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THE BOKE

NAMED | HE GOU ERNOUR

DEUISED BY SIR THOMAS ELYOT, KNIGHT

EDITED FROM THE FIRST EDITION OF 1521

BY

HENRY HERBERT STEPHEN CROFT, M.A.

BARRISTER-AT-LAW

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. I.

LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE
| 1883

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THE EDITOR’S “PREFACE.

ANY readers will be surprised to learn that
the present is in reality the tenth edition

fact must, however, be qualified by the ad-
mission that no complete reproduction of the original
text of 1531 has ever appeared before. It will be
seen presently that several passages were expunged
in the subsequent editions of the sixteenth century
some of which were probably not in harmony with the
religious views prevailing at the respective periods of
publication. These suppressed passages will be easily
detected in the present edition, being either pointed out
by a footnote or placed within brackets; the lattér
device, which seemed preferable, having been uniformly
adopted throughout the second volume in which the
omissions are more frequent.

The Governour does not appear to have been re-
printed either in the seventeenth or the eighteenth
century. In 1834, however, a new edition, professing
to be based upon one of 1564 (though it seems doubt-
ful whether this date should not be 1546), was pub-

of a once popular book. This undoubted’

Cannan

vi THE EDITOR’S PREFACE.

lished by Mi. Arthur Turberville Eliot, Scholar of
Catherine Hall, Cambridge. Of this work, for which
the editor had prudently solicited subscriptions be-
forehand (to judge from a list containing more than
ninety names printed at the end of the volume), per-
haps the less said the better. But Mr. Eliot’s claim
to ‘have bestowed both considerable labour and at-
tention upon this new edition,’ invites criticism from
one who desires that justice should be done to his author.
After premising that he has ‘adhered as closely as
possible to the original text, occasionally ‘“ mutatis
mutandis, exceptis excipiendis,”’ Mr, Eliot informs his
readers that hewdoes not hold himself ‘responsible
either for the apparent quaintness or obscurity of style
in Zhe Governour, and that where he ‘could in any
degree with propriety simplify the composition of the
original work,’ he has ‘ never failed to do so,’

It is easy to predict the kind of work which would
be likely to be produced under such circumstances and
by an editor who regarded his duty in such a light, and
when we compare Mr. Eliot’s ‘emendations’ with the
text of his author, the result seems hardly satisfactory. —
In the following instances, taken at random, it cannot
be said that Mr. Eliot’s design ‘to simplify the com-
position of the original,’ has been skilfully executed.
For ‘abrayded’ (Vol. II. p. 72) Mr. Eliot prefers to read
‘prayed,’ for ‘adumbrations’ (Vol. II. p. 403) ‘adjura-
tions,’ for ‘ prease’ (Vol. II. p. 48) ‘praise,’ for ‘bayne’
(Vol. II. p. 282) ‘vain,’ for ‘craftes man’ (Vol. II. p,

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. Vil

320) ‘crafts of men,’ for ‘embrayde’ (Vol. II. p. 421)
‘embraced, for ‘verbe’ (Vol. II. p. 385) ‘herb;’
whilst he converts ‘singular aduaile’ (Vol. II. p. 99)
into ‘individual advantage,’ ‘taken with the maynure’
(Vol. II. p. 75) into ‘seized with the mania,’ and
‘shaking his here’ (Vol. I. p. 47) into ‘slacking his
ear;’ on the other hand ‘timorous royle’ (Vol. I. p, 178)
should be read according to Mr. Eliot ‘ timorous rule,’
‘sely bestis’ (Vol. 11. p. 5) ‘self beasts ;’ in the same
chapter ‘ fame’ is altered into ‘same,’ ‘comelynesse of
nobilitie’ (Vol. II. p. 43) into ‘comeliness of no utility,
‘nobles’ (Vol. II. p. 36) into ‘metals, and ‘jurates’
(Vol. II. p. 256) into ‘curates.’ The enumeration of
similar errors might be prolonged much further, were
it not for the fear of wearying the reader who will
probably be of opinion that sufficient evidence has
already been adduced of the want of taste, not to employ
a harsher term, exhibited by Mr. Eliot.

Nor can this gentleman be said to have performed
what may be called the more mechanical part of his
editorial duty, with the accuracy which we havea right to
expect from one who boasts of having ‘bestowed both
time and labour’ upon it. Long paragraphs, in some
cases extending to whole chapters, of the original text
are frequently omitted, the absence of which though
occasionally denoted by the suggestive phrase ‘hiatus |
valde deflendus,’ can generally be discovered only by
comparison with the black letter edition ; nor is this loss
compensated by any elucidation of the many obscure

Vill THE EDITOR'S PREFACE.

allusions in the text, or by any new information
furnished to us with regard to the author’s history.
Mr. Eliot indeed claims to ‘have enriched the whole
with various and instructive notes’ which he trusts
‘ will be deemed both valuable and important.’ But we
look in vain, in Mr. Eliot’s edition, for a single foot-
note; though the numerous quotations and obsolete
phrases which we continually encounter in the original
afford abundant scope for illustration and explana-
tion, and the only information with regard to the life
of Sir Thomas Elyot himself, which can be considered
either valuable or important, is contained in copious ex-
tracts from Strype, arranged however in sucha confused
manner as to make it difficult for the reader to under-
stand how much is due to Mr. Eliot and how much to
Strype.

But perhaps the best proof of the perfunctory
way in which Mr. Eliot has discharged his editorial
duty is furnished by his own view of the scope of
The Governour. The latter, he tells us, ‘may justly
be said to be an able treatise on the interesting and im-
portant science of political economy.’ This description,
however, of a work which regards essentially the ethics
of morals was apparently no sooner enunciated than
it was seen to be somewhat inaccurate, for Mr. Eliot
adds apologetically : ‘The propriety of applying this
name to Zhe Governour may on a prima facie view
appear somewhat questionable, but I feel assured that the
discerning reader will readily allow its propriety in the

THE EDITORS PREFACE. ΙΧ

more strict and comprehensive meaning of the term
Political Economy.’

Mr. Eliot, to judge by his own statement, had a
twofold object in view, and seems to have thought
that to ‘have rescued this valuable work from its
present comparative obscurity’ would be a less hon-
ourable distinction than if he ‘could at any time discover
that the republication of this famous treatise had in
any degree suppressed the visionary schemes of political
enthusiasts who broach in the present day doctrines
which cannot be reconciled with religion, justice, or with
reason. A work undertaken with this singular inten-
tion, and executed in the way we have described, was
hardly calculated to fulfil the ambitious anticipations of
its editor.

After what has been said, the reader will not
be unprepared to hear that the booksellers have
appraised the value of Mr. Eliot’s edition of a work
in which he claimed to have an hereditary interest
at a very moderate figure. Within the last few years
a copy was offered for sale at the price of half-a-
crown, although at the same time it was stated that
copies of this particular edition were very seldom in
the market. It would appear, therefore, that ‘the
discerning reader,’ to whom Mr. Eliot appealed, has
exhibited his discernment in a manner not contem-
plated by that gentleman, and has abstained altogether
from inquiring for a book from which he could hope to
derive so little ‘ benefit, amusement, or instruction.’

x THE EDITOR’S PREFACE.

With regard, however, to one defect in Mr. Eliot's
work, it must in fairness be said that the materials from
which alone a life of the author can be compiled were
less accessible half a century ago. The documents
which have since been sorted and arranged, and of which
calendars are now printed under the direction of the
Master of the Rolls, were known to exist, but the
labour involved in their investigation must necessarily
have been much greater. And though a new edition of
a work like Zhe Governour may justly be considered
imperfect without some introductory notice of the
author, such notice must after all depend for its
completeness upon the accessibility of the materials
available for the purpose. On the other hand, it is
simply inexcusable that one who claims to ‘have
bestowed both considerable labour and attention’
upon a new edition should make no attempt either to
verify the numerous quotations from ancient authors
or to explain the obsolete phrases with which a work
like The Governour is replete.

It seems curious that no new edition of The
Governour should have been brought out since 1834.
It may be that the fate of Mr. Eliot’s book acted as a de-
terrent, a fate which was perhaps attributed to a wrong
cause—to the indifference of the public with regard to
the author and subject of the original work rather than
to the intrinsic worthlessness of the modern edition.
It may be that the prospect of the labour in store for
an editor, and from which there can be no escape, if a

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. xi

book like Zhe Governour is to be: edited conscien-
tiously, proved too repulsive. To whatever cause the
omission be attributable, the fact remains that a work,
which may truly be said to be of no ordinary interest
to Englishmen, has been so entirely neglected that
from 1834 down to the present day no one has
attempted to make it more generally known. In
saying this, however, we must not forget to take into
account one fact of great importance—the extreme
scarcity of the Eadztio princeps of The Governour, that,
viz., of 1531. Froma letter printed by Mr. Eliot, it
would seem that his ‘friend and relative,’ Col. William
Granville Eliot, possessed a copy of the original edition
which he had bought ‘at Mr. Dudley North’s sale,’
and which he flattered himself was almost an unique
copy. In this respect, however, Col. Eliot was mis-
taken, for several others are known to be still in
existence. Of these one copy (said to be imperfect)
is in the Grenville Library; Mr. Henry Pyne, of 18
Kent Terrace, Regent’s Park, possesses, we believe,
another ; while a third was bought by Mr. Quaritch,
at the sale of Dr. Laing’s famous library in December,
1879. The fact, however, that Mr. Quaritch admitted
to the present Editor that he had never previously had
a copy of the first edition for sale, proves that Col.
Eliot was at least fortunate in possessing a rare volume.
The copy which has been used for the purpose of
the present edition has remained in the possession
of the same family during a period of at least a

xii THE EDITOR’S PREFACE.

hundred years. It is in the original sixteenth-century
binding, which is in excellent preservation, and measures
68 inches in height by 43 inches in breadth. In the
centre of each of the sides the royal arms are stamped
in relief and surrounded by a square border containing
the motto‘ Deus det nobis suam pacem et post mortem
vitam zternam. Amen;’ with four compartments con-
taining respectively a rose, fleur de lys, castle, and
pomegranate. It is well known. that in all the sub-
‘sequent black letter editions the size was diminished.
A copy in Dr. Garrod’s possession, which bears the
date 1565 and which is also in the original binding,
measures only 5% inches x 4 inches.

A book like Ze Governour may be edited in one
of two ways. ‘The text may be collated carefully with
that of every other known edition of the same work,
and then reproduced in modern type, preserving the
antique spelling, pointing, etc.; with only such anno-
tations as are necessary to indicate the various verbal
alterations, but without any attempt by verifying
quotations or explaining allusions to elucidate the text.
Another, and, as most persons will probably think,
a far more satisfactory method, is to explain by means
of footnotes every allusion and obscure phrase in the
text which seems to require explanation, and above all
to verify the author’s quotations by reference to the
original authorities.

It is not pretended that the text of the present
edition is the result of a careful collation of the

THE EDITOR’S PREFACE. Xili

texts of the various editions of Zhe Governour.
All that the Editor can lay claim to in this direction
is to have transcribed the text of the first edition,
and wherever a passage was found to have been
omitted in subsequent editions, the fact has been duly
noted, but no particular attention has been paid to
merely verbal alterations. On the other hand the
greatest possible care has been taken to verify the
author’s quotations. In this respect, as the reader can
see at a glance, Zhe Governour presents very con-
siderable difficulty toa conscientious editor. Although
the whole book abounds to a surprising extent in
passages translated from ancient and sometimes very
little known authors, Sir Thomas Elyot, except in
rare instances, did not deem it necessary to give
his readers the benefit of exact references to his
authorities. Consequently the labour involved in
merely verifying these authorities has been out of all
proportion to the size of the work. In some cases, as
for instance the story of Hiero (Vol. I. p. 216), the
quotation from Plotinus (Vol. II. p. 326), the saying
of Cato, erroneously attributed by Sir T. Elyot to
Plato (Vol. II. p. 313), the story of Belinger Bal-
dasine (Vol. II. p. 439), the apophthegm of the Stoics
(Vol. II. p. 303), and the saying attributed to S.
Chrysostom (Vol. II. p 321), it was only after the
most laborious researches, extending over many
months, and involving the consultation of a multitude
of volumes, that the Editor was enabled to trace the

XIV THE EDITOR’S PREFACE.

quotation to its primitive source. Fortunately in a
very few instances only was the Editor finally unsuc-
cessful, and compelled to acknowledge that one or two
passages, more stubborn than the rest, resisted the
most pertinacious efforts to ascertain their parentage. :

It may perhaps be objected that to give more
than a mere reference to the original authorities, was
to incumber the work unnecessarily; but when we
consider the wide range over which these extend, it is
obvious that no ordinary library would enable the reader
to consult them. Even were this not the case, the mere
mechanical labour involved in turning over the pages
of such a great number of volumes in order to compare
the translation with the original would be so irksome
that the Editor decided at the risk of largely increasing
the bulk of his volumes to print zz extenso, in the notes,
the passages translated more or less literally in the
text by Sir Thomas Elyot. It is these translations
which render Zhe Governour such an extremely in-
teresting and valuable book, for by them we are
enabled to gauge the state of classical learning, or, to
speak more correctly, the knowledge possessed by at
least one learned man, in the early part of the sixteenth
century. It seemed important that the reader should
have at hand the means of forming for himself an
opinion as to the accuracy of Sir Thomas Elyot’s
translations by comparing the latter with the originals.
On this ground alone, therefore, the method adopted
in these volumes may probably be justified. The

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. χν

Editor ventures to think that the same excuse may be
pleaded for the insertion in the notes of quotations
from modern writers of acknowledged ability on
matters treated of by Sir Thomas Elyot. It is at
least an interesting study to compare the condition of
the critical faculty, as it existed in the sixteenth
century, with its more complete development in the
nineteenth.

One fact connected with Zhe Governour ought
alone to redeem it from obscurity, and must ever
entitle it to rank as an exceptionally interesting
specimen of early English literature. It is very
seldom remembered that Sir Thomas Elyot is our
earliest and, as the reader will hereafter see, practically
our only authority for the statement that Henry the
Fifth, when Prince of Wales, was committed to prison
for a gross contempt of court committed zz facie
curve. ‘Yhe reasons which have led the Editor to the
conclusion that this statement is inaccurate are so fully
stated elsewhere, that it is unnecessary to do more
than allude to them here. Whether the reader be led
to the same conclusion or not, at least he cannot fail
to regard The Governour with feelings akin to reverence
as containing the details of a story which from boy-
hood he has probably been led to regard as one of the
established facts of English history.

The style in which Zhe Governour is written is
peculiar : whilst many words and phrases are employed
which were even then gradually going out of use, and

XVi THE EDITOR’S PREFACE.

were destined soon to become obsolete; onthe other hand —
many words are introduced which were then avowedly
new importations, but which in most cases still retain
their places in the language. From a linguistic point
of view Zhe Governour may be regarded almost as a
connecting link between the English of the time of
Chaucer and the English of the time of Sir Francis
Bacon. A glossary, therefore, seemed indispensable.
In this particular branch of English literature there is
an extraordinary and deplorable deficiency. The best
glossaries, those for example of Nares and Halliwell,
fall very far short indeed of what we have a right to
expect. In this respect the French are a very long way
ahead of us. The splendid Dictionary of M. Littré is as
much superior to that of Richardson as the best modern
Latin-English Dictionary is to that of Sir T. Elyot.
The Editor is glad to take this opportunity of acknow-
ledging the very great assistance he has derived from
M. Littré’s valuable work in compiling his glossary,
᾿ς without which, he does not hesitate to say, the latter
must necessarily have been far less complete. It
would add immensely to the chances of obtaining a
really good glossary of old English if all editors of our
early authors would adopt the plan pursued by Mr.
Morris in the Aldine edition of Chaucer, and append
to their editions a full index of words with exact
references to their place in the text. The absence of
such an index in the Aldine edition of Spenser, which
forms one of the same series, greatly detracts from the

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. XVil

value of this edition for the purposes of reference as
compared with the corresponding edition of Chaucer.

With regard to Elyot himself, it is unfortunate that we
are left in the most tantalising uncertainty with respect
to many important points in his history about which we
have positively no information. His public career is sur-
rounded by a certain air of mystery. For some reason
which at present we are totally at a loss to explain, very
few of his letters have been preserved and literally none
on strictly official business. Yet itis certain from the po-
sition which he occupied in the service of the State that
his correspondence on official matters must have been
considerable and of an unusually interesting character.
It is a singular fact too that Sir Thomas Elyot is seldom
mentioned by his own contemporaries, though he was
undoubtedly well known to all the eminent men of that
time. His name, for instance, does not occur once in
the whole of the eleven volumes forming the series
known as the State Papers.

It is a source of regret to the Editor that the
Calendars of State Papers of the reign of Henry VIII.
have not at present advanced beyond 1530, and con-
sequently he has been unable to avail himself of the
assistance which they might be expected to afford in
throwing light upon some parts of Elyot’s career which
are at present involved in obscurity. It is to be hoped
that the Government may be induced to provide the
means for accelerating the progress of calendaring these

important documents. At the same time the Editor is
a

XVili THE EDITORS PREFACE,

happy to acknowledge the kindly interest in this edition
exhibited by J. Gairdner, Esq., of the Public Record
Office, who so ably carries on the work commenced by
the late Rev. J. S. Brewer, and to him and to his col-
league, C. Trice Martin, Esq., it is only due to say that
the Life of Elyot has been rendered far more complete
than it could have been without such assistance. To
Walford D. Selby, Esq., of the same office, to Richard
Garnett, Esq., the Superintendent of the Reading Room
at the British Museum, to the Rev. Ponsonby A. Lyons,
of whose great knowledge of bibliography he has very
frequently availed himself, and to the many other gen-
tlemen to whom, in the course of this work he has
had occasion to apply for information, the Editor begs
to tender his most grateful thanks.

In conclusion it should be stated that the Editor
obtained permission to reproduce, by means of photo-
graphy applied to the engraver’s art, the valuable
portraits of Sir Thomas and Lady Elyot from the
originals, painted by Holbein, in the possession of
Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor.

11 Kine’s BENCH WALK
TEMPLE:

August 1880,

LIFE OF EL YOT:

T would hardly be an exaggeration to say that no
man of equal eminence has suffered as much
from the neglect of posterity as the subject of
the present Memoir. The name of Eliot (adopt-

ing for the moment the modern orthography, although we

prefer to retain his own way of spelling it, in speaking of our
author and his family) must always possess a peculiar interest
for Englishmen. The services rendered by Sir John Eliot to
the cause of constitutional liberty, and the fact that he en-
dured a long and painful imprisonment which death alone
terminated rather than yield what has ever since been justly
considered the most cherished privilege of Parliament, will
always secure for his memory the respect and admiration of
his grateful countrymen. The story of his life, his sufferings,
and his death is so inseparably connected with the history
of Parliamentary Government in England that every school-
boy is familiar with the name of Sir John Eliot as one
of the greatest statesmen whom the seventeenth century
produced. How few are there, on the other hand, even
among those professing an extensive acquaintance with
English literature who have ever heard of the man bearing
the Same family name to whom this country had already

been indebted, a full century previous, for services, of a less
a2

κᾧ

XxX LIFE OF ELYOYT.

heroic kind, it is true, but still not lightly to be forgotten.
It would seem, indeed, as if the very halo of glory encircling
the later Eliot had had the effect of obscuring and confusing
to some extent the memory of his earlier namesake.*

It cannot be said, however, that Englishmen as a rule are
either indifferent or ungrateful to those who have helped to
form the national character. Now we may fairly reckon Sir
Thomas Elyot among the earliest advocates of that system of
education under which, with certain modifications introduced
from time to time to suit the habits of the age, English gentle-
men have been trained during the last three centuries and a
quarter. It seems probable, therefore, that the ignorance
undoubtedly prevailing with respect to him has arisen from a
combination of circumstances peculiarly unfavourable to the
perpetuation of his memory. Let us see what those circum-
stances are. In the first place we must recollect that
although Sir Thomas Elyot was employed in the public
service of his country, and, in the capacity of ambassador
conducting most delicate negotiations, occupied a conspicuous
place in the eyes of his own contemporaries, yet his claims to
the remembrance of posterity rest principally, if not entirely,
upon his services to literature. The productions of his pen,
as we shall endeavour to show in the course of this sketch,
were not only highly creditable performances in point of
scholarship, but were fully appreciated by the learned men of
his own and the next succeeding generation.

At a time when classical learning was struggling into
existence in England and when the ability to interpret the
works of ancient authors was as yet confined to an extremely

5 The reader will find, for instance, that the author of Ze Governour has
been styled by modern writers, and even by one so cautious as Hallam, Sir Yohn
Elyot. See Zit. of Zur. vol. i. p. 254, note, 4th edn.

LIFE OF ELYOT. ΧΧΙ

small band of labourers in that virgin soil, it was natural that
the translations which Elyot published for English readers in
their own native tongue should not only meet with a ready
sale, but should be reprinted again and again. When, how-
ever, in the progress of time the rising wave of educational
development bursting the barriers of national ignorance and
enlarging the area of general knowledge poured from the
press a vast flood of literature over the land, it was equally
natural that the rivulets which had given the first direction
and impetus to the torrent should gradually disappear and
finally be lost sight of altogether. Hence it happened that
the tiny volumes which had been well thumbed and circulated
from hand to hand by the subjects of the Tudors and the
Stuarts were hardly at all in request in the reign of Queen
Anne, and in the nineteenth century have become so scarce
as to be regarded only as literary curiosities. Another and
possibly a yet more potent reason for the strange indifference
with which Elyot’s merits have been requited may be traced
to the fact which, at first sight, seems certainly remarkable
that no details with regard to him have been furnished by
his own family. This omission however is capable of ex-
planation. Elyot died childless, and though his widow
married a very eminent lawyer, the copious Reports of Sir
James Dyer would lead us to suppose that their author, even
if he had had the inclination to become the biographer of
his wife’s first husband, could have had little time to devote
to such a purpose. It happened also that of the families with
which Elyot was most intimately allied several, by a singular
coincidence, experienced a common fate and became alto-
gether extinct. Of the Beselles, the Fyndernes, and the
Fetiplaces, with each and all of whom Elyot, as we shall see
presently, was closely connected, the two former during at

ΧΧΗ LIFE OF ELVYOT.

least three centuries, and the last during many generations,
have had no living representatives.

The combined effect of these various causes is Shown in
the fact that in an age which has witnessed the reproduction
of the works of many writers of the sixteenth century, by
no means superior in point of merit to Elyot, the latter has
been completely ignored,

On the other hand, those who from time to time have
assumed to speak with authority about him have apparently
neglected the most obvious precautions to insure the accuracy
of their information. A whole series of writers, including
such names as Pits, Anthony 4 Wood, Fuller, and Chalmers,
and numerous works of reference, including the Biographia
Britannica and the Nouvelle Biographie Générale, have uni-
formly represented Elyot as having been born in Suffolk.
For this blunder Bale, who was himself a contemporary of
Elyot, and therefore ought to have been better informed, is
clearly responsible. Bale, however, was himself a Suffolk
man, and, as was recently pointed out by a writer in the
Quarterly Review,* his knowledge of topography seems to
have been confined to the limits of his own county. Bale’s
statement is that Elyot ‘in Sudovolciz comitatu (ut a fide
dignis accepi) primam duxit originem,.’» Now Bale’s book
was published in 1548, when Elyot had been dead only two
years, and it seems hardly credible that Bale should have
been misinformed with regard to such an important fact as
this, at a time when without much trouble it might have been
easily verified. But Bale, unfortunately, has not the reputa-
tion of a very careful writer, and he seems to have accepted a

* See an article on The Founder of Norwich Cathedral in the Quarterly
Review, No. 296, p. 412.
» Scriptores Britannia, fo, 228 Ὁ, ed, 1548.

i

LIFE OF ELYOT. XXill

good deal of merely hearsay evidence on at least questionable
authority. Perhaps too his natural inclination might dispose
him .to claim such a distinguished member of the fraternity
of letters as a fellow-countryman of his own.

Strange, therefore, as it appears to us, it is certain that,
when only two years had elapsed since Elyot’s death, one of
the simplest facts concerning him could not be ascertained
with accuracy by one who professed to be his biographer.

If such were the case then, the reader will be able to form
some idea of the difficulty of discovering now the exact place
of Elyot’s birth, after the lapse of more than three hundred
years.

Nor is this assertion of Bale’s the only error with
respect to Elyot’s early life with which we have to deal; for
Wood, with even greater recklessness than Bale, boldly de-
clared that Elyot was ‘educated in academical learning in
the hall of St. Mary the Virgin’ at Oxford.*. The evidence
upon which Wood relied for this statement was an entry
which he found on the rolls of the University, under the date
1518, of one Thomas Elyot who seems to have been admitted
in that year ‘ad lecturam alicujus libri facultatis Artium
Logices Aristotelis.. This, says Wood, is the admission to
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He further tells us that ‘the
said Tho. Elyot was in the beginning of Aug. an. 1524 ad-
mitted “ad lecturam alicujus libri Institutionum,” that is to
the degree of bachelor of the civil law.’ Yet at the very time
at which, according to Wood, Elyot was taking his B. C. L.
degree we are able to prove by the evidence of a silent but
unimpeachable witness, namely the Patent Roll still preserved
in the Public Record Office that he was going the Western

* Athen. Oxon. vol. i. col. 150.

XXiV LIFE OF ELYOT.

circuit in company with Sir John Fitzjames and Robert
Norwich.

Wood himself, indeed, appears to have felt that the iden-
tification he proposed was not altogether satisfactory, for he
adds immediately afterwards: ‘Now if we could find that
Sir Tho. Elyot was about fifty years of age when he died,
then we may certainly conclude that Elyot the bach. of arts
and of the civil law might be the same with him, otherwise
we cannot well do it.’* If Wood had but turned to Elyot’s
own Dictionary (a copy of which was actually in the Bodleian
Library) he would have found that the author’s statement in
the Preface completely negatived this theory, and might have
spared himself the trouble of searching the Register of the
University.

To make matters worse, and as if purposely to create a
fresh source of confusion, Wood quoted from a MS. in his
possession the following note which had been written by
Miles Windsor, a member of Corpus Christi Coll.: ‘ Parker
in his Select. Cantab. makes this Sir Tho. Elyot to have been
bred in Jesus College, Cambridge.’* The work here referred
to (the title of which it will be observed is misprinted by
Wood) is of course the Sceletos Cantabrigiensis of Richard
Parker. This has been printed by Hearne and will be found
in the fifth volume of Leland’s Collectanea. Probably Wood
himself did not attach any great importance to a suggestion
emanating from one of whom he speaks in another place in
terms of great-disparagement. It seems that a volume of
Windsor’s MSS. had come into Wood’s hands, and the latter
tells us that he found there ‘many vain and credulous
matters (not at all to be relied upon) committed to writing.»

* Ubi supra, » Athene Oxon. vol. ii. col. 359, ed. 1815.

LIFE OF ELYOT. XXV

After such testimony to the general character of these
collections, the reader will hardly be surprised to hear that
there is nothing whatever in Parker’s account of Jesus
College, Cambridge, to warrant Windsor’s statement.

These unfounded assumptions of Bale and Wood respect-
ing Sir Thomas Elyot’s place of birth and education have
been adopted by subsequent writers, unfortunately without
any attempt to investigate their correctness. Thus even
Mr. C. H. Cooper, although he has evidently taken con-
siderable pains to render his brief notice of Elyot in his
Athene Cantabrigienses as trustworthy as_ possible, has
adopted without hesitation the notion that he received an
university education. His remark that Elyot ‘was more pro-
bably a native of Wiltshire’ than of Suffolk might, as we
shall see presently, be more easily justified. We may embrace
this opportunity to observe that Mr. Cooper has appended to
his article a list of references to almost all the authorities
throwing any light upon Elyot’s career from which we have
derived considerable assistance.

One more example may be adduced to exhibit the evil
result of trusting too implicitly to such authorities as Bale
and Wood. The writer of the article on Elyot in the most
recent (the ninth) edition of the Eucyclopedia Britannica,
after referring to Wood’s conjecture that he studied at Saint
Mary’s Hall, Oxford, adds with judicial impartiality, ‘but
according to Parker and others he belonged to Jesus College
Cambridge.’ Without attempting to untie the knot caused
by such a direct variance of opinion the writer merely con-
tents himself with drawing the inevitable conclusion that
Elyot ‘evidently received a university education.’

Mr. Cooper, as it appears, was the first to cast doubts upon
the statement which had hitherto been generally accepted, that

XXVi LIFE OF ELYOT.

Suffolk was the county of Elyot’s origin, by hinting that it was
more probably Wiltshire. Although he assigns no reason for
this opinion in the Athene Cantabrigienses, we gather from a
communication made by him to Notes and Queries * in Septem-
ber 1853, that he had discovered an inquisition post mortem
of the time of Henry VIII. from which it appeared that Sir
Thomas. Elyot’s father had been in receipt of the profits
arising from t'.e Manor of Wanborough in the county of
Wilts. This circumstance, to which we shall allude more
fully hereafter, seemed for the first time to supply a
reason for discrediting Bale’s idea that Elyot was born in
Suffolk,

We must frankly acknowledge that we are not able to
say with certainty in what place, nor even in what county,
Sir Thomas Elyot was born. But on the other hand, we are
fortunately able for the first time to trace his descent with
precision. This we are enabled to do by means of his father’s
will still existing in an excellent state of preservation among
the archives of the Court of Probate at Somerset House.
This document, although somewhat voluminous, appeared to
be of such intrinsic interest, not merely from a legal or
genealogical point of view but from the insight which it
affords into the habits and sentiments of that age, that the
Editor determined to print it zz extenso, the fact that it had
never, so far as can be ascertained, been published before
appearing to counterbalance the obvious objection arising
from its great length. Although referred to by Browne
Willis,” Sir Egerton Brydges,° Lysons* and Foss,® it is a
singular fact that not one of these writers has made any use

* See vol. viii. p. 276. > Notitia Parliament. vol. ii. p. 145.

* Collins's Peerage, vol. viii. p. 3. ἃ Hist. of Berkshire, p. 360.
* The Judges of England, vol. v. p. 158.

LIFE OF ELYOT. XXVi

of the excellent materials which it supplies for filling up
the gaps in the pedigree of the family, and for establishing
beyond doubt what has hitherto been merely matter of
conjecture.

On this ground alone, therefore, the reader will probably
be disposed to regard the insertion of such a valuable piece
of evidence in the Appendix to the present edition as neither
irrelevant nor superfluous.

From the document in question we learn that Sir Thomas
Elyot’s great-grandfather on the father’s side was one Michell
Elyot, who was probably of Coker, a village about two miles
from Yeovil on the borders of Somersetshire and Dorsetshire.
We say ‘ probably ’ because although his place of residence is
not expressly mentioned, one of his grandsons is described in
the will as of Coker, and presuming that this description
applies to an elder son, it seems not unnatural to suppose that
the family had been seated at the same place during at least two
generations. Michell Elyot had two sons, Philip and Simon.
Of the former all that we know is that he had a son living in
1522, who is designated in his cousin’s will as ‘ John Michell
otherwise called Elyot of Coker,’ from which fact we may
perhaps infer that Philip was the eldest son of his father.
Simon the brother of Philip married Joan, a daughter of John
Bryce otherwise called Basset. The fruit of this marriage
was a son, Richard, the future judge, destined to derive still
greater lustre from the light reflected upon him by his son,
the accomplished author of Zhe Governour. Richard Elyot
must have been born about the middle of the fifteenth
century. Adopting the profession of the law, he seems to have
practised as an advocate as early as the eighth year of Henry
the Seventh. Six years later he obtained an official ap-

* See the Year Books,

XXVili LIFE OF ELYOT.

pointment in Wiltshire. The manor of Wanborough near
Swindon formed part of the vast estates of Francis Lord
Lovell, and came into the possession of the Crown on the
attainder of that nobleman in 1485. Sir John Cheyne, one
of the king’s most trusted councillors, had been placed in
possession of this manor immediately after its forfeiture, and
had continued to receive the rents and profits until his death,
which occurred in 1498. From that date down to July 1511,
when it was granted to Sir Edward Darrell, a neighbouring
landowner, Richard Elyot was connected with this estate as
Receiver for the Crown, and accounted in that capacity for
the revenues which accrued during the period of his occupa-
tion. It is clear from the terms of an inquisition taken at
Amesbury in 1514, and printed in the Appendix to this
volume, that Richard Elyot’s tenure of the manor of Wan-
borough was on the footing of a trustee for the Crown rather
than of a beneficiary. It seems the more necessary that this
should be explained because the contrary has evidently been
assumed by some writers. The Rev. J. E. Jackson, for
instance, in his valuable edition of Aubrey’s Wiltshire says, in
reference to Wanborough: ‘Between that year (2.4. 1487)
and 1515 the Manor “late Viscount Lovels” was enjoyed by
John Cheyne, Knight, then by Sir Richard Elyot, father of
Sir Thomas, the diplomatist, and lastly by Sir Edward
Darell of Littlecote, who died owner, 1549.’* It would appear
from the expression which we have italicised, that Mr.
Jackson regarded all three occupants as being on the same
footing as beneficial owners or grantees. The fact, however,
seems to be that the last occupant alone had a grant of
the Manor, Cheyne’s title being unknown. Elyot on the
other hand, so far from ‘enjoying’ the profits accruing
2 Ρ, 1905.

LIFE OF ELYOT. ΧΧΙΧ

during his occupation, is expressly stated to have received
them ‘ad usum Domini Regis,’ and to have paid them
over to the proper officer appointed by the Crown, not only
during the reign of Henry VII. but also after the accession
of his son.

It was, no doubt, in consequence of the official position
which Elyot occupied at Wanborough, that in 1503, he was
appointed a commissioner for the county of Wilts to collect
the ‘aids’ required by the King to defray the expenses of
knighting the Prince of Wales and of marrying the Princess
Margaret to the King of Scotland.* In Michaelmas term of
this year he was made a serjeant at-law ; Lewis Pollard, with
whom he was afterwards so frequently associated as justice of
Assize on the Western circuit, and Guy Palmes, being
invested with the coif at the same time. An interesting
account of the ceremonies observed on this occasion is given
by Dugdale (who, however, by a strange oversight, gives
Elyot the Christian name of Edward instead of Richard) from
a MS. which is still in the possession of the Benchers of the
Middle Temple.” We may remark by the way that though
new patents were made out and delivered to Elyot and
Pollard within a week after the accession of the new sovereign
in accordance with the usual custom, Guy Palmes, the junior
serjeant, does not appear to have received his new patent till
four years afterwards, although he ‘continued not only to
practise as a serjeant but to act as a justice of Assize in the
interval.

Richard Elyot must have stood high in the royal favour,
for in the same year in which he was created a serjeant he
held the appointment of Attorney-General to the Queen

* Rot. Parl, vol. vi. p. 535. > Origines, p. 113.

XXX LIFE OF ELYOT.

Consort.*. The office seems to have been a lucrative one, and
those who are curious in such matters may compare the fee
of ten pounds paid ‘to Richard Elyot the Qtienes Attourney,’
with the smaller amount of xxvis. viiid. paid in the same
month (March 1503) ‘to James Hobert the Kings Attourney,’
and may speculate on the nature of the professional services
for which these sums were the respective remuneration.

That Richard Elyot must have married many years before
he was created a serjeant we can have little doubt; for only
eight years after that event, viz. in 1511, we find his son
Thomas accompanying him on the Western circuit in the
capacity of Clerk of Assize. Now as it is in the highest
degree improbable that an office of such importance would be
conferred upon a minor, even though he were the son of a
judge, we are justified in assuming that Thomas Elyot was
born certainly not later than 1490. In any case his birth
must have preceded his father’s occupation of Wanborough.
Two questions then arise, when and whom did Richard Elyot
marry? And here, unfortunately, we are confronted by the
difficulty to which we referred above when speaking of our
author’s birth-place. The time of which we are speaking may
be described as the pre-registration period, and we can hope
for no assistance from parish registers. A clue, indeed, to
the solution of one of the above questions is supplied by
Sir Thomas Elyot himself in a letter written, after his father’s
death, to his old friend Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Secretary
of State. He there speaks of ‘my cosen Sir William Fynderne,
whoes fader was my mothers unkle.’® Sir William Fynderne
was the son of Sir Thomas Fynderne, who, for the support

"P,P. Exp. of Elizabeth of York, p. 100.
» Ellis, Orig. Let. vol. ii. p. 115, Ist series.

LIFE OF ELYOT. XXXi

he gave to the house of Lancaster, was attainted of high
treason and forfeited both his life and estates in 1461.

We might infer, then, from Sir Thomas Elyot’s own state-
ment, that his father, Sir Richard Elyot, had married the
daughter of a brother or a sister of Sir Thomas Fynderne.
Moreover, the surrounding circumstances all tend to corro-
borate this inference. The Fyndernes, who derived their
name from a village in Derbyshire, where they had a mansion
dating from the time of Edward I., were people of considerable
importance in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The
hamlet of Findern, about five miles from Derby, still exists
and serves to perpetuate the memory of the ancient lords of the
soil. But the manor-house in which they lived, and the church
in which they were buried, with the splendid monuments
erected over their tombs, have alike been destroyed. Sir
Bernard Burke narrates with some pathos that when he
visited the spot in 1850 the sole surviving traces of the former
occupants were some little flowers, called /indernes flowers,
which, according to the tradition of the simple villagers, had
been ‘brought by Sir Geoffrey from the Holy Land, and
they added, ‘do what we will they will never die’ Alas!
even this frail link connecting the present with the past has
at length been finally severed. A still more recent visitor
informs us that the last tiny flower which had for ages pre-
served a name and a memory which the elaborate works of
man’s hand had failed to rescue from oblivion, has been
ruthlessly uprooted from the soil. In course of time members
of this influential Derbyshire family intermarried with the

* Lett. and Pap. Hen. VI, vol. ii. pt. 2, pp. 778, 782.
» Vicissitudes of Families, vol. i. p. 26, ed. 1869,
© See an article on Findern and the Fyndernes in The Reliquary, vol. iii.

p. 198.

ΧΧΧΙΙ LIFE OF ELVYOT.

gentry of other counties. Thus it happened that a William
Fynderne in the fifteenth century married a Berkshire lady,
the widow of Sir John Kingstone. She was an heiress, the
daughter of Sir Thomas de Chelrey, lord of the manor of
Frethornes, in the parish. of Childrey, near Wantage. This
manor she brought to her husband: as her marriage portion.
The village of Childrey is not more than ten or twelve miles
from the borders of Wiltshire, and an old Roman road, known
as Icknield Street, may be traced almost in a straight line
from Childrey to Wanborough. Another manor in the same
parish, called the manor of Rampanes, belonged, at the time
of which we are now speaking, to the family of Fetiplace,
and remained in their possession down to the middle of the
eighteenth century, when the Fetiplaces, like the Fyndernes,
became extinct.* Richard Fetiplace, a brother of the owner
of Rampanes, was the owner of two estates in the county,
viz., East-Shefford and Besselsleigh near Abingdon, and one of
his daughters married the son and heir of Sir John Kingstone.
Young Kingstone died in 1514, having previously conveyed
his estate of South Fawley, near Childrey, to Richard Elyot,
William Fetiplace, his wife’s uncle, John Fetiplace, his wife’s
brother, and Charles Bulkeley, their heirs and assigns, as
trustees to hold to the use of himself, his wife, and his
heirs.” This John Kingstone the younger was buried in the
church at Childrey, where a monument to his memory may
still be seen.°. His widow, who survived her husband many
years, seems to have retired from the world and devoted
herself to a religious life, for she is described as a ‘ vowess’ on
a monumenta] brass in the church of Shalstone in Bucking-

* Lysons’ Berkshire, p. 260.
» Lett. and Pap, temp. Hen. VIII, vol. i. p. 940.
ο See Clarke’s Par. Top. of Wanting, p. 76.

LIFE OF ELYOT. XXXiil

hamshire, where it is also stated that she died on September
23, 1540." It was to this lady, whom he styles ‘my ryghte
worshypfull suster dame Susan Kyngestone,’ that Sir Thomas
Elyot dedicated one of his books, a translation of a sermon .
of Saint Cyprian. It is, perhaps, due to the fact of her having
become a veligzeuse, and so in the eye of the law civilly dead,
that her name is omitted in the family pedigree.

The insertion of Richard Elyot’s name in the deed of
conveyance of the manor of Fawley becomes intelligible
when we find that he married for his second wife the widow

οὗ Richard Fetiplace, and thus stood in the relation of step-

father to the younger Kingstone’s wife. The circumstances
above mentioned make it highly probable that Richard
Elyot’s appointment to Wanborough may have been the
result of his previous acquaintance with some of the principal
landowners in that part of the country; and, as soon as we
learn that he selected for his second wife a member of a
family closely connected with Childrey, the suggestion that
his first wife might have come from the same neighbourhood
seems quite natural. All doubt, however, on the matter is
dispelled by reference to the will of Sir William Fynderne,
dated May 5, 1516. There we find that, in the event of Sir
William’s grandson Thomas dying without issue, his estates
are bequeathed to ‘ the said Richard Elyot and my cosyn Alice
his wife and the heirs of their two bodies lawfully begotten.»
Hence we may infer that Richard Elyot married for his first
wife Alice Fynderne, a niece of that Sir Thomas Fynderne
who suffered the extreme penalty of the law for treason in

* We may mention on the authority of the Rey. W. C. Risley, the present
Rector of Shalstone, that this interesting memorial, of which an engraving is given
in Lipscombe’s Hist. of Bucks, is still in excellent preservation.

» Chan, Inq. p. m,. 16 Hen, VIII. No. 164,

b

XXXIV LIFE OF ELYOT.

1460, and a granddaughter of the Sir William Fynderne
who died in 1444, and whose tomb, with an inscription
recording the date of his death, may still be seen in the
chancel of the church at Childrey.* In the absence of any
evidence as to the exact period of Richard Elyot’s first
marriage we can only conjecture that it must have taken
place in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. Two
children only were the result of this union, a son, Thomas,
the subject of this Memoir, and a daughter, Margery, who sub-
sequently married Robert Puttenham, the son of Sir George
Puttenham of Sherfield near Basingstoke.”

We do not know where Richard Elyot resided during the
first years of his married life. It is obvious, however, that
a great portion of his time must have been passed in London
in the active exercise of his profession. He certainly occupied
chambers in one of the Inns of Court, for various articles of
furniture appertaining to them are mentioned in his will.
That his connection with Wiltshire was not limited to that
northern portion of the county in which Wanborough is
situated appears from the significant fact that he possessed
property at Chalk and also at Winterslow within a few miles
of Salisbury. This latter circumstance renders it probable
that he spent a good deal of his time in the immediate
vicinity of the cathedral city. The peculiar regard which
he entertained for the latter is evidenced by the directions
contained in his will. His son also was apparently well
acquainted with this part of the county, and probably accom-
panied his father in many excursions in the neighbourhood.
An incident which occurred in the course of one such ramble
is related by Sir Thomas Elyot in his Dictionary, It appears

* Clarke’s Paroch. Topog. p. 76.
> Berry’s Hampshire Geneai, p, 288.

LIFE OF ELYOT, XXXV

from this narrative that whilst Richard Elyot and his son
were visiting the monastery at Ivy Church, a short distance
from Salisbury, some workmen who were engaged in digging
stone happened to turn up some human bones, which when
put together formed a gigantic skeleton measuring no less
than 14 feet 10 inches in length.» We are enabled to fix
with tolerable accuracy the date of this occurrence. Sit
Thomas Elyot himself speaks of it as having taken place
‘about xxx years passed.’ The passage in which he men-
tions the event was extracted by Leland from a copy of th
first edition of Elyot’s Dictionary, which appears even at that
time to have been so scarce that Leland knew of no other
impressions of it. ‘ Nec Bibliothece ejus impressiones prime
ubivis occurfunt.’” The date of what is generally called the
first edition, and of which a copy is in the British Museum
Library, is 1538, but this does not contain the passage
in question. In the Preface, however, Sir Thomas Elyot
mentions the fact that he had begun a Dictionary ‘ about a
yere passed,’ but that, for certain reasons whiclr he gives, he
had ‘caused the printer to cesse,’ when the work was only
half finished. Now it is possible that Leland may have
copied the story from this incomplete edition, the date of
which, therefore, on the author’s own showing, would be 1537.
On this hypothesis the visit to Ivy Church must have taken
place about 1507, that is to say, at the time when Richard
Elyot was still holding for the Crown the manor of Wan-
borough. Camden evidently alludes to the same incident,
though he gives a somewhat different version of it. ‘ Heereby
is Iuy Church,’ he says, speaking through his translator,
Philemon Holland, ‘sometime a small Priory, where, as a
tradition runneth, in our grandfathers remembrance was

* Leland, Collect. vol. iv. p. 141. - » Leland, ui supra.

b2

XXXVI LIFE OF ELYOT.

found a grave and therein a corps of twelve foote and not
farre of a stocke of wood hollowed and the concaue lined
with lead with a booke therein of very thicke parchment all
written with capitall Romane letters. But it had lien so long
that when the leaues were touched they fouldred to dust.
Sir Thomas Elyot, who saw it, iudged it to be an Historie.’*
Another fact also mentioned by Camden, in speaking of
Stonehenge, points to our author’s familiarity with this part
of Wiltshire. ‘I haue heard that in the time of King Henrie
the Eight there was found neere this place a table of mettall
as it had been tinne and lead commixt, inscribed with many
letters but in so strange a character that neither Sir Thomas
Elyot nor Master Lilye, Schoole-maister of Paules, could read
it, and therefore neglected it, Had it been preserved, some-
what happily might have been discovered as concerning
Stoneheng which now lieth obscured.’®

The elder Elyot’s connection with the West of England is
indicated by the fact that almost immediately after the con-
firmation of his patent as Serjeant-at-law by Henry VIII. he
received a commission to act as Justice of Assize on the
Western circuit,° and from that time till his death he always
went the same circuit. In July, 1509, we find his name and
that of his brother-serjeant, Lewis Pollard, who was a Devon-
shire man, included in the commission of the peace for the
county of Cornwall.4

Meanwhile the Serjeant’s son was growing up to man’s |
estate and imbibing under his father’s roof and in the society
of his father’s friends copious draughts of classical learning.
It was doubtless no small advantage to Thomas Elyot that
he reckoned amongst his acquaintance nearly all the most

. * Britain, p. 251, ed. 1610, > Ibid. p. 254, ed. 1610.
* Lett, and Pap, Hen. VIII. vol. i, Ὁ. 12. 4 Ibid. p. 43.

LIFE OF ELYOT. XXXVIi

learned men of the day. The zeal with which he pursued his
studies and the wide range which he gave to his researches
would assuredly make him a welcome addition to the little
band of devoted scholars, such men for example as Colet,
Linacre, Lupset, Croke, Lilly, Latimer, and a few others
whom More delighted to gather round him at Chelsea.®
Although the question has been much controverted, it is

certain, as we have already stated, that he was not a student
either at Oxford or Cambridge. The decline of both Univer-
sities had been so marked during the reign of Edward IV.”
that it is not difficult to conceive the reasons which would
be likely to operate upon the mind of a man in Richard
Elyot’s station when called upon to decide with regard to
his son’s education. In view of his own professional ad-
vancement and with the prospect of being able to assist his
son through the influence which he would probably be in a
position to exert, it seems natural that Thomas Elyot’s father
should prefer to secure for him a legal rather than an acade-.
mical training. Many years after the time of which we are
now speaking the author of Zhe Governour gave a sketch of
‘his early life, and inasmuch as his own account precludes all
doubt in a matter which has been much disputed we shall
quote the passage in his own words. It occurs in a Latin
‘Address to the Readers’ prefixed to the first edition of his
Dictionary, when, after apologising for any defects that may
be found in the latter, he proceeds as follows:—‘Id breviter a
vobis impetrare cupio, ut meam voluntatem in hac re equi
bonique consulatis cogitetisque apud vos ipsos id operis jam
cceptum ab equite britanno, barbarissimo scilicet, utpote in
paternis tantim zdibus educato, nec ab anno etatis duedecimo

® See the Life of Sir T. More in Wordsworth’s Zecles. Biog. vol. ii. p. 96.
» See Hallam, 2:2, of Zur. vol. i. pp. 107, 163 note, 185, 4th ed.

XXXVili LIFE OF ELYOT.

ab altero quopiam preceptore literis instructo sibiipsi nimirum
duce tam in scientiis liberalibus quam in utraque philosophia.’
Notwithstanding, therefore, what has been said by Antony
Wood and Mr. Cooper to the contrary, each of whom claims
Elyot as an alumnus of his respective University, the reader
will probably consider the passage just quoted as conclusively
disproving the assertions of both. Inasmuch, however, as
Mr. Cooper had stated that ‘there is good evidence that Sir
Thomas Elyot was really educated in Jesus College in this
University (26. Cambridge) and here proceeded M.A., 1507,’*
it seemed incumbent upon the Editor to clear up any linger-
ing doubts that might remain in the mind of the reader so
long as the accuracy of such an apparently authoritative
statement remained untested. Accordingly application was
made to the authorities of Jesus College Cambridge for
information on the subject, the result proving that Mr. Cooper's
statement would not bear the test of close examination.

Mr. Arthur Gray, a Fellow of the College, in a letter to the
Editor dated July 16, 1879, writes as follows :-—

‘I find that the earliest entry contained in our book of
College entries does not go beyond 1618, and the College
possesses no record of entries of an earlier date. Tradition-
ally Sir Thomas Elyot has, I believe, been reckoned among
the College worthies, but I cannot say on what authority. If
he proceeded M.A. in 1507, he must have entered very soon
after the foundation of the College in 1496.’

So far, therefore, as Mr. Cooper’s statement is concerned,
this letter appeared almost to decide the matter. There re-
mained, however, one other possible source of information,
the University List of Degrees and Admissions. The Regis-
trary of the University, the Rev. H. R. Luard, most kindly

* Athene Cantad. vol. i. p. 89.

LIFE OF ELYOT. ΧΧΧΙΧ

undertook to search this list, and communicated the result
of his investigation in the following note, dated October 2,

1879. ‘Our matriculation registers only begin in 1544, con-
sequently if Sir T. Elyot were here we should have no record
of his admission. He certainly, as far as our books show,
took no degree. My belief is that his statement in the
preface to his Dictionary is absolutely conclusive that he had
no university education.’

- But if, on the one hand, we are compelled to relinquish
the picture of Elyot studying at the University, we need
not, on the other, draw entirely upon our imagination to
fill up the blank during the corresponding period of his
career. He himself tells us what works he read whilst yet
quite a young man, and we are thus enabled to form some
conception of the wide range of his studies, which appears
the more astonishing when we remember that he could derive
no assistance from lexicons or dictionaries, now considered
the indispensable handmaids to learning. ‘Before that I
was xx yeres olde,’ he says, ‘a worshipfull phisition and one
of the moste renoumed at that tyme in England per-
ceyuyng me by nature inclined to knowledge rad unto me
the workes of Galene of temperamentes, natural faculties,
the Introduction of Johannicius, with some of the Apho-
rismes of Hippocrates. And afterwarde by mine owne study
I radde ouer in order the more parte of the warkes of
Hippocrates, Galenus, Oribasius, Paulus Celius, Alexander
Trallianus, Celsus, Plinius the one and the other, with Dios-
corydes. Nor I dyd ommit to reade the longe Canones of
Auicena, the Commentaries of Auerrois, the practisis of Isake
Halyabbas, Rasys, Mesue and also of the more part of them
which were their aggregatours and folowers.* The ‘ wor-

* Preface to The Castel of Healthe.

xl LIFE OF ELYOT.

shipful physician’ here alluded to was doubtless Linacre, the
head of the College of Physicians, and one of the best Greek
scholars in England. His translation of Galen, according to
Hallam, is ‘one of the few in that age that escape censure
for inelegance or incorrectness.’* He probably inspired Elyot
with some of his own enthusiam for the study of Greek,.and
we may trace the influence of his early guidance in the pages
of The Castel of Health.

In the summer of 1511 Serjeant Elyot obtained for his
son, probably from the Chancellor Warham, or from Sir John
Fineux, the Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, the appoint-
ment of Clerk of Assize of the Western Circuit. The salary
attached to this office, as the holder of it himself tells us, was
‘worth yearly one hundred marcs.’” Reckoning the value of
a mark at thirteen shillings and fourpence, and adopting Mr.
Froude’s estimate of the penny as being equivalent in pur-
chasing power to the present shilling,° this would represent
an income at the present day of about 800/. per annum. In
the month of June of this year we find Thomas Elyot for the
first time accompanying his father and Serjeant Pollard, his
father’s colleague, in the capacity, to use his own phrase, of
‘Clerk of the Assises Westward.’4 The fact that his name,
in accordance with the immemorial practice, is included in
the same commission as that by which the Justices of Assize
are appointed, has misled some writers into the belief that the
younger Elyot was himself at this time exercising judicial
functions. Thus, in an article on Elyot in the last (the ninth)
edition of the Excyclopedia Britannica, we find it stated that
‘his name begins to appear in the list of Justices of Assize
for the Western Circuit about 1511.’ The mistake, however,

* Lit. of Eur, vol. i. p. 271. » Ellis, Orig. Lett. vol. 11, p. 116, Ist series.
© Hist. of Lug. vol. i. p. 23. 4% Ellis, abd supra,

LIFE OF ELYOT. xli

is no doubt attributable to the writer having consulted Mr.
Brewer's Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIIT, in
which the commissions are given without any explanation -

that the Clerks of Assize are included in those documents as

well as the Justices of Assize.
In the autumn of this year Richard Fetiplace, the father-_
in-law of John Kingstone, died. His death must have oc-
curred between June 1511 and February 1512, for his name,
which appears in the commission of the peace for Berkshire
in the former month, is omitted in the latter. He resided at
East or Little-Shefford, a hamlet situated near the point
where the high road from Wantage to Hungerford bisects
that from Lambourne to Newbury, and well known to hunting
men as a meet of the Craven hounds. The manor-house
which he rebuilt has long been in ruins, and is at present, we
believe, used as a barn; but the monument of one of his
sons, John, who died in 1524, and who is mentioned in the
will of Sir Richard Elyot printed in the Appendix, is still
preserved in the church.
Richard Fetiplace had married Elizabeth, the only daugh-

‘ter and heiress of William Besilles, and had had by her a

large family. His brother William lived, as we have already
seen, at Childrey, where he founded an almshouse and free
school, which are still kept up, and a chantry, which was
abolished at the Reformation. Nothing, therefore, was more
natural than that Serjeant Elyot, through his connection with
the Fynderne family, who possessed a manor in Childrey,
should become intimately acquainted with Richard Fetiplace
and his wife.

We do not know in what year Richard Elyot’s first wife
Alice died. We are enabled, however, approximately to fix
the time of his second marriage. It is a somewhat signifi-

xlii LIFE OF ELYOT.

cant fact that his official tenure of the forfeited estate at
Wanborough terminated in the same year in which Richard
Fetiplace died. The manor, as already stated, was granted
on July 5, 1511, to Sir Edward Darrell of Littlecote near
Hungerford. Eighteen months later, namely in Hilary term
1513, William Grevile, one of the judges of the Common
Pleas, died, and on April 26 in that year Serjeant Elyot was
appointed to fill the vacant seat on the bench.* Only ten
days before this event” his name had been inserted in the
deed already mentioned by which John Kingstone assigned
his estate of South Fawley to trustees to the use of himself
and his wife, the daughter of Richard Fetiplace. It seems a
legitimate inference from ‘this fact to suppose that Richard
Elyot was already at this time connected by marriage with
the family of Fetiplace. Probably, therefore, we shall not be
far wrong in assigning 1512-13 as the period at which the
elder Elyot, himself a widower, married for his second wife
the widow of the lord of East Shefford.

Besides this manor, which his wife brought him as her
marriage portion, he acquired a farm at Petwick in the parish
of Letcombe-Regis, close to Childrey. Being now therefore
a landed proprietor in Berkshire, his name appears in June,
1514, for the first time in the commission of the peace for
that county.°. Two years later, by the death of his wife’s
father, William Besilles, the owner of Besselsleigh near Ox-
ford, he came into possession not only of that estate but of
some property in his own native county, comprising the manor
of Brompton Regis near Dulverton in Somersetshire, of which
his father-in-law had died seised, and which consequently

* Lest. and Pap. Hen. VIII. vol. i. pr 547. Ὁ Ibid. vol. i. Ῥ. 940.
* Lbid. vol. i. p. 826.

LIFE OF ELYOT. xiii

devolved upon Elyot in right of his wife.* We may mention
here by the way that the celebrated group of Sir Thomas
More’s family, attributed to Holbein, and which is now at

Burford Priory, was formerly in the old manor-house at

Besselsleigh,” and, when we consider the intimacy which
subsisted between More and Thomas Elyot, it seems not at
all unlikely that this picture may have been originally in the -
possession of the latter.

In July 1517 we find the new judge of the Common Pleas
styled for the first time Sir Richard Elyot. He is so desig-
nated in the commission appointing him a Justice of Assize
on the Western Circuit.© It would appear from this circum-
stance that the honour of knighthood was not conferred upon
him immediately upon his elevation to the bench. It is
certain, however, that he had not been knighted whilst he
was a Serjeant, for Dugdale expressly tells us ‘that none of
that degree were knights before the 26th of Hen. VIII’ 4
Moreover in the writs of summons to Parliament which were
directed to him in the first, third, and sixth years of the
king’s reign, he is described as Richard Elyot simply without
the addition of the title Mz/es.° It is noticeable also that in
this same month of July his colleague, who had been raised
to the bench the year after Elyot, is styled for the first time
Sir Lewis Pollard in the commission of the peace for Devon-
shire, from which we may infer that these old friends and
constant companions were knighted together.

One important case in which the judge was concerned
about this time was an award made by Wolsey as arbitrator
in a long-pending suit between the Mayor and Corporation of

* Collinson’s Hist. of Somerset, vol. 111, p. 504. " Lysons’ Berkshire, p. 240.
* Brewer, Lett. and Pap. vol. ii. pt. 2, p. 1104. ἋὯ Ovigines, p. 137.
* Dugdale, Summons to Parl..p 487-490.

xliv LIFE OF ELYOT.

Norwich and the Prior and Convent of Christchurch in that
city, with reference to some waste land called Zomblands.
Richard Elyot’s name is appended to the final award amongst
a number of other signatures headed by Wolsey. According
to Mr. Brewer the award was made in August 1520,* but Mr.
Blomefield postpones it to the year 1524. Inasmuch, how-
ever, as Richard Elyot would in that case have been in his
grave for about two years, we can scarcely hesitate to adopt
the former as the true date. A still more important event in
connection with Sir Richard Elyot’s professional career was
the trial of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, Lord
High Constable of England, for high treason. The duke, as
is well known, was arrested in London and conveyed to the
Tower on Thursday April 16,1521. But as Stowe tells us,
‘after the apprehension of the duke, inquisitions were taken
in diuers shires of him, so that by the knights and gentle-
men he was indicted of high treason.’° This statement is
fully borne out by records still existing, for we find from the
latter that on Monday the Feast of Saint John Port-Latin
(May 6), Sir Richard Elyot and his old associate, Sir Lewis
Pollard, with two laymen Sir William Compton and Sir
William Kingston, held a special commission of Oyer and
Terminer at Bedminster, near Bristol, for the county of
Somerset, at which a true bill was found by a jury composed
of gentlemen and yeomen, of whom Sir William Courtney
was foreman.4 The following day a similar court was held
at Bristol Castle for the county of Gloucester, by the same
commissioners, and another true bill returned by a jury of
twenty, Sir John Hungerford being the foreman. It does
not appear, however, that Sir Richard took any further

* Lett. and Pap. vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 1566. ἡ Hist. of Nerfolk, vol. 111, p. 195. ©
© Annales of Egland, p. 511. ἃ Brewer, Lett. and Pap. vol. iii. pt. 1, p. 493.

LIFE OF ELYOT. xlv

part in the actual trial, which was held the following week
before the Duke of Norfolk, as Lord High Steward, at
Westminster.

Sir Richard Elyot went the Western Circuit for the last
time in February 1522. He must have died either actually
on circuit or very soon after his return from it, for his will,
made two years previously, was proved at Lambeth by his
son on May 26. Unfortunately we have no means of ascer-
taining whether his request that he might be buried in the
Cathedral at Salisbury ‘in the place there prepared for him
and his wife’ was really carried out. We must presume,
however, that it was, and it is probably due to the too
faithful compliance of his executor with the testator’s direc-
tion that no tomb should be made over his grave, that we
are left at the present day in total ignorance of the exact
spot where the judge’s remains were interred. All traces of
the ‘flat. stone with convenient writing’ indicating to the
stranger that beneath was the grave of ‘ Sir Richard Elyot,
knight, one of the King’s Justices of his Common Bench’
have long ago disappeared. For a few short years no doubt
‘placebo, dirige, and mass’ were duly said and sung for the
repose of the soul of the departed judge. But when the
final blow was struck at the religious establishments, and
property bestowed upon them by liberal benefactors for pious
uses was transferred by a stroke of the pen to the rapacious
hands of the laity, we can have little doubt that ‘ the lands in
Chalk, bequeathed for the express purpose of providing that
masses should be said for the soul of the judge and his
‘frendes soules and all christen soules’ did not escape the
general confiscation.”

* Brewer, Lett. and Pap. vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 889.
» Both the clerk to the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, F, Macdonald, Esq.,

xlvi LIFE OF ELYOT.

For some years after the death of his father, Thomas
Elyot continued to go the Western Circuit and to retain his
old office of Clerk of Assize. In 1523, however, through the
premature decease of his cousin Thomas Fynderne, he came
into possession of some estates in Cambridgeshire comprising
the manors of Carlton Parva and Weston Colville, not far
from Newmarket. This piece of good fortune fell to him
‘not moche loked for’ to use his own expression.* The cir-
cumstances in which Elyot became entitled to this pro-
perty were as follows. Under the limitations contained in
the will of Sir William Fynderne already mentioned, in the
event of his grandson Thomas Fynderne dying without issue,
his Cambridgeshire estates would devolve upon the heirs of
Sir Richard Elyot, whose first wife Alice was the testator’s
cousin. Thomas Fynderne outlived the judge by one year
only, dying at the early age of seventeen. Although so young
he had been married to Bridget, the daughter of Sir William
Waldegrave, but having no issue the contingency provided
for by his grandfather’s will occurred, and the devise in favour
of Richard Elyot’s heir took effect. Unluckily for the latter,
and as if ‘to temper that sodayne joye,’ which he had felt on
first hearing the news of his good fortune he ‘was furthwith
assaultid with trouble by them which made title withoute
ryght or goode consyderation.’°

As already stated, Sir William Fynderne’s family was an
offshoot from the main stock which had been seated in Derby-

and the town clerk of that city, R. Marsh Lee, Esq., informed the Editor that
after making a careful search they were unable to discover any trace of the
‘indenture tripartite,’ mentioned in the will of Sir Richard Elyot, although a
duplicate of the original must have formerly existed among the municipal as well
as the ecclesiastical muniments.

* Ellis, Ovig. Lett. vol. ii. p. 114, Ist series.

" Morant’s Hust. of Essex, vol. ii. p. 235.

* Ellis, Orig. Lett. vol. ii. p. 115, Ist series.

LIFE OF ELYOT. xl vii

shire for nine generations.* Upon the death of young Thomas
Fynderne, the branch of which he was the last male heir
became extinct. The Derbyshire line was then represented
by another Thomas Fynderne, whose son George had married
Elizabeth, daughter of John Port of Etwall,” then a Serjeant-
at-law, but afterwards better known as Sir John Port, one of
the judges of the King’s Bench.

The elder Fynderne disputed Elyot’s right to the succes-
sion. Legal proceedings were commenced, and advantage
was taken of the new connection with Serjeant Port to enlist
his services in the cause. Elyot was thus put to great ex-
pense in defending his title. ‘By the meanes of Mr. Porte
the justice, whoes daughter myn adversaries sone hadd maried,
I was constrayned to retayne so many lernyd men, and so to
applie my busyness, that the saide sute contynuyng one yere
and an half stoode me above one hundred pounds.’* The
cause came on for hearing before Wolsey as Chancellor, who
seems from the first to have entertained an opinion in favour
of our author. ‘My lorde Cardinall, whome God pardone,
knowing my title to be perfect and suer as having it enrollid
bifore him and at the first beginning hiering him self the
mutuall covenaunts bytwene my fader and my cosen Sir
William Fynderne, whoes fader was my mothers unkle, by his
goode justice gave me good comfort,’ 4

The suit terminated in Elyot’s favour, and when we call
to mind the complaints of ‘the law’s delay,’ that have been
raised in much more recent times particularly with regard to
chancery proceedings, it would appear that our author had
rather reason to congratulate himself upon this comparatively

speedy termination of a troublesome litigation.
* Lysons’ Derbyshire, p. cxxvii.
» Egerton, MSS. 996, fo. 15. Harl. MSS. 1486, fo. 27 4, and 1093, fo. 72,
© Ellis, Orig. Lett. vol. ii. p, 115, Ist series, 4 Ellis, 22 supra.

xl viii LIFE OF ELVOT.

The estate at East Shefford of course remained with the

Fetiplaces, and John Fetiplace, Sir Richard Elyot’s eldest
step-son, to whom the household furniture was bequeathed
continued to reside there, but the property did not long
remain in the family. The absence of a resident squire at
the present day may explain, but cannot excuse, the neg-
lected state of the parish. When the British Archeological
Association visited East Shefford in September, 1859 ‘the
melancholy appearance of the church’ standing ‘as it were
submerged, the river being much above the level of the floor,
produced a painful impression upon the members.* This is
the more to be regretted from the fact that the church con-
tains a most interesting fifteenth century monument of
Thomas Fetiplace, the grandfather of Richard Fetiplace,
and his wife Beatrice, long supposed to be the natural
daughter of John, the first King of Portugal. It has now, it
is true, been ‘clearly demonstrated that Beatrice, the ille-
gitimate daughter of John, King of Portugal, who was first
Countess of Arundel and then Countess of Huntingdon, was
a perfectly distinct personage from Beatrice, Lady Talbot,
afterwards wife of Thomas Fetiplace, Esq., of East Shefford,
Berkshire.” ® But it is not the less certain that the latter
lady was also by birth a Portuguese, for ‘immediately after
Lord Talbot’s decease a writ was issued to the escheator of
Shropshire, stating that Beatrix, the widow of Lord Talbot,
was born in Portugal.’¢ Engravings of the seals of both
ladies are given in the Collectanea,-and whilst the shield of
the latter exhibits in the first and second quarters ‘ the arms

* Fournal of the Arch. Assoc. vol. xvi. Pp. 245.
» An engraving of this tomb is given in the Yournal of the Archeolog. Assoct-
ation, vol. xvi. p. 154.
“ Ubi supra, p. 146. ἃ Collectanea Topog. et Gen, vol. i. p. 87.

LIFE OF ELYOT. xlix

of Portugal as borne by some of the sovereigns of that
country previous to the reign of Alphonso IIL, A.D. 1248,
viz., argent, five escutcheons in saltire azure, each charged
with as many plates in saltire also,’* the shield of the former
is surrounded with a bordure gules charged with nine castles
or which Alphonso is reported to have added to the royal
arms ‘in commemoration, according to Portuguese heralds,
of his acquisition of the kingdom of the Algarves, A.D, 1267.’

Now it is somewhat remarkable that Sir Thomas Elyot’s
coat of arms contains three castes in two quarters of the
shield, and it seems just possible that these may have been
an addition consequent upon his father’s marriage with a
member of the Fetiplace family. We may observe here
that the pedigrees of this family are in great confusion, and
present the strangest discrepancies, the one printed by Ash-
mole* not agreeing with that given by Clarke, 4 whilst the
copy in the Bzbliotheca Topographica Britannica® is not only
very imperfect, but differs materially from both the preceding.
The difficulty of unravelling this tangled skein has been
much increased by the statements of some writers. Thus,
according to Lysons, ‘Edmund Fetiplace, the grandson of
Thomas above-mentioned (i.e. the husband of Beatrice) quit-
ted Shefford for Besils Legh.’ In fact, however, the former
was the great-great-grandson of the latter. Again, the in-
scription on the tomb of Sir John Fetiplace, who died in
1580 and was buried at Appleton, as given by Ashmole,£
differs altogether from the genealogy given by Clarke. ™

No notice is taken in any of these pedigrees of the

* Fourn. Arch. Assoc. vol. xvis Ῥ. 150. > Tbid.
© Antig. of Berkshire, vol. iii..p. 306. ἃ Paroch. Topog. of Wanting. p. 68.
© Vol. iv. p. 84 * ! Berkshire, p. 360.

8 Antig. of Berkshire, vol. i. p. 109. " Paroch. Top. of Wanting, p. 68.
ς

Ϊ LIFE OF ELYOT.

marriage of Richard Fetiplace’s widow with Sir R. Elyot,
and we are unable to fix the date of her death. She was
probably buried at Salisbury, as indicated in her second
husband’s will. - The estate of the Fetiplaces at Shefford
was eventually purchased by the Winchcombes,* and that at
Besselsleigh by William Lenthall, speaker of the Long Par-
liament,> and the family became finally extinct in 1743.°

By his father’s death Thomas Elyot had come into
possession of an estate at Combe, now called Long Combe,
near Woodstock, and his name appears for the first time in
the commission of the peace for Oxfordshire in July 1522.
Thus, by a curious coincidence, although he had not studied
at either Cambridge or Oxford, he became connected by the
ties of property with both the counties in which those two
ancient seats of learning are situated.

Soon after the termination of his law-suit, and therefore
some time in the course of the year 1523, he was promoted
by Wolsey to the office of Clerk of the Council. Apparently
the appointment was unsolicited by Elyot himself. ‘ After-
ward my saide lorde Cardinall, for some goode oppynion that
he conceyvyd of me withoute my merites, advauncid me (as
he supposid) to be Clerk of the Counsayle withoute my sute
or desyre’4 There can be little doubt, indeed, that his
learning and ability had attracted the notice of Wolsey, and
that the latter was anxious to avail himself of the services of
one who had already obtained the reputation of an accom-
plished scholar. The office of Clerk to the Council had been
held successively by Robert Rydon, who combined a curious
variety of qualifications in his own person, for in 1490 he
was sent on a commission to Spain, and is described as a

* Lyson’s Berkshire, p. 360. > [bid, p. 240. © 7614. p. 288.
ἃ Ellis, Orig. Lett. vol. ii. p. 115, Ist series,

LIFE OF ELYOT. li

Bachelor of Laws and Vice-Admiral ;* by John Meautys, or
Mewtys, French Secretary to Henry VIII., and appointed by
the latter to fill the vacancy created by Rydon’s death in
I 509 ;> and finally by Richard Eden, a clergyman who suc-
ceeded Meautys in 1512.2 Eden seems to have been a
pluralist, for he was afterwards Archdeacon of Middlesex
and Clerk of the Star Chamber, with an annual salary for
the latter office of 26/. 135. 44.

We learn from Sir Harris Nicolas that ‘very few of the
acts of Henry the Eighth’s Privy Council before the year
1540, when the register commences, are now extant.’® We
know consequently very little of the transactions of that body
during the period of Elyot’s connection with it. In January
1526, when regulations were made for the better government
of the Royal Household, the Privy Council consisted of
twenty members. As many of these, however, must of neces-
sity be frequently absent on other business, it was ordered by
the King that a select committee, consisting of the Lord
Chamberlain, the Bishop of Bath, the Treasurer and Comp-
troller of the King’s Household, the Secretary, the Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Dean of the King’s Chapel,
the Vice-Chamberlain, the Captain of the Guard, ‘and for
ordering of poor men’s complaints and causes Dr. Wolman,’
should ‘give their continual attendance in the causes of his
said Council unto what place soever his Highness shall
resort.’

About this time Wolsey largely increased the jurisdiction
of the Court of Star Chamber, although it did not incur
under his presidency the odium to which it was so justly

* Rymer, Fed. vol, xii. p. 429. ὃ Lett. and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol. i. p. 83.
* 7014. Ὁ. 428. 4 Jbid, vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 869.
* Proc. and Ord, Priv. Council, vol. vii. p. ii. 4 [bid. p. vis

c2

lil LIFE OF ELYOT.

obnoxious at a later period. ‘This Court,’ says Sir Thomas
Smyth, ‘began long before, but tooke great augmentation
and authoritie at that time that Cardinall Wolsey, Arche-
bishop of Yorke, was Chauncellor of Englande, who of some
was thought to haue first deuised the Court, because that he,
after some intermission by negligence of time, augmented the
authoritie of it.’* The reason of this extension of the powers
of the Star Chamber was, we are told, in order ‘to represse
the insolencie of the noble men and gentlemen of the north
partes of Englande, who being farre from the King and the
eate of justice, made almost, as it were, an ordinarie warre
among themselues, and made their force their lawe.’® This
statement of Sir Thomas Smyth’s is to some extent corro-
borated by a letter from Lord Dacre, the Warden of the
Marches, written in December 1518, in answer to one from
the King, desiring to be informed of the truth of certain
alleged riots in Northumberland, and unlawful assemblies in
Tyndale and Riddesdale.* In this letter the Warden en-
closes a list of the names of ‘the maintainers,’ and recom-
mends that they should be summoned before the Star
Chamber and fined.

We have seen that by the regulations for the Royal
Household one member of the Council, Dr. Wolman, a
clergyman, who was Archdeacon of Sudbury and afterwards
Dean of Wells, was specially assigned ‘for the ordering of
poor men’s complaints and causes.’ In 1519 we find that
certain members of the Council, consisting of the Abbot
of Westminster, the Dean of St. Paul’s, the Abbot of St,
John’s, Sir Thomas Nevyle, Sir Andrew Windesore, Sir
Richard Weston, Dr. Clerc, and Mr. Rooper had been ap-

* De. Rep. Angl, p, 96, ed. 1584. > Ibid.
Lett and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol. ii. pt. 2, p. 1433.

LIFE OF ELYOT. liii

pointed by Wolsey and the Council ‘to hear the causes of
poor men depending in the Sterred Chambre,’ and they were
directed to sit ‘in the White Hall in Westminster, where the
said suitors shall resort.”* It was part of Elyot’s duty as
Clerk of the Council to settle the fees to be paid by these
poor suitors, and he takes credit to himself for doing this in
a way which was no doubt more satisfactory to the suitors
than to his own subordinates. ‘Those few (causes),’ he says,
‘that remayned, were for the more parte the complaynts of
beggars, which shortly perceyving, I, my clerks repugning, did
sett such a rate in fees ordinary, as neither any man shold be
excessifly grievyd, nor that I shold be seene to pike oute
substance oute of other mennys povertie.’® One decree of
the Star Chamber, made in 1528, during the time that Elyot
was Clerk to the Council, was subsequently incorporated in
an Act of Parliament (21 Hen. VIII. cap. 16). This decree,
which is set out at length in the Statute Book, was made at
the instance of certain artificers and handicraftsmen of London,
to restrain the excessive number of foreign apprentices, and
in the ‘exemplificacion, of which the formal commencement is
here subjoined, the writ, it will be seen, is directed to Elyot.
‘Henricus Octavus Dei gratia Angliz et Francie Rex fidei
Defensor et Dominus Hibernia Omnibus ad quos presentes
literee pervenerint salutem. Inspeximus quoddam breve nos-
trum de certiorando Thome Elyot Clerico Consilii nostri
directum, et in filaciis Cancellarie nostre resydens in hec
verba:—Dilecto sibi Thome Elyot, Armigero, Clerico Consilii
nostri salutem. Volentes cunctis de causis. certiorari super
tenore cujusdam finalis Decreti coram nobis et Consilio nostro
habiti de et super execucione quorundam Statutorum et

* Lett. and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol. iii. pt. 1, p. 196.
> Ellis, Orig. Lett, vol. ii. p. 115, Ist series,

liv LIFE OF ELYOT.

Ordinacionum contra Alienigenas exercentes artes et arti-
ficia manualia inhabitantes infra regnum nostrum Angliz
editorum et provisorum ; tibi preecipimus quod tenorem finalis
Decreti przdicti cum omnibus eam tangentibus nobis in
Cancellariam nostram sub sigillo tuo distincte et apte sine
dilatione mittas et hoc breve. Teste me ipso apud West-
monasterium xiv. die Aprilis anno regni nostri vicesimo.’

In November 1527, Elyot was pricked for Sheriff of
Oxfordshire and Berkshire,* the two counties being then
united for this purpose by an arrangement which continued
until the reign of Elizabeth.® It was during this year that
the strange and fatal pestilence popularly known as ‘the
sweating sickness,’ raged in this country smiting high and
low with rigid impartiality. ‘By reason of this sicknes,’
says Hall, ‘the terme was adiorned and the circuites of
Assise also,’* There would therefore have been no occupa-
tion for the Clerk of Assize of the Western circuit had he not
been called upon to serve his country in the more exalted
office.

The following letter from Elyot to Cromwell must un-
doubtedly be referred to this period, and gives us the first
indication of the friendship subsisting between these two
celebrated contemporaries, a friendship which the untimely
death of one of them alone dissolved.

‘Mr. Crumwell, Yn my moste harty manner I recommend
me unto you. And touching my good Lordes busynes, I
will to the utterest of my power endeuour me to the satisfieng
of his pleasure and the accomplisshment thereof. I now do
send to myn undershrif that he semblably with all expedi-
tion do cause such personages to appier bifore the Exchetour

* Lett. and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 1610.
» Fuller’s Worthies, p. 344. © Chron, (Hen, Κ7117.) fo. clxxvi b.

LIFE OF ELVOT. lv

as yn this case shall be lawfull and expedyent, and I dought
not but he will so doo, and as my lordes grace shall be well
servyd. Right gladly wold I see you yn my pour house if
you make long abode yn thes parties. All be it I can not
make you suche chere as you have yn Oxford, but onely
hartily welcom.
‘At Combe, the xxv. day of March.
‘Your lovyng companyon,
‘ TH. ELYOT.’ *
Although the year is not given, we may certainly assign
March 25, 1528, as the date of this letter. We know from
independent evidence that Cromwell was. in Oxfordshire at
this very time. A letter is still in existence written by
Stephen Vaughan (to whom we shall allude more at length
presently) from London on ‘Passion even’ and addressed
‘to his right worshipful master Mr. Cromwell be this yoven
at Oxford.’® Now in 1528, Easter Sunday fell on April 12,
consequently Vaughan’s letter must have been written on
March 28. Secondly we have a letter from Cromwell himself
to Wolsey, dated ‘Oxford, April 2,’ in which he speaks of
having been to the monastery at Wallingford and found all
the church and household implements conveyed away except
the evidences which he had given to the dean of Wolsey’s
college at Oxford.* It will be observed too that Elyot
᾿ addresses Cromwell as Wolsey’s solicitor. Now this is exactly
the expression used by Fox, who says, ‘It happened that in
this meane season as Cromwell was placed in this office to be
sollicitour to the cardinall, the said cardinall had then in
* MS. P.R.O. Cromwell Corresp, vol. x. No. 56. The letter is addressed

‘To the right wurshipful and my very frende Mr. Crumwell, Solicitor to my lord

Legates grace.’
» Lett. and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol. iv. pt. 2. ps 1813.
5. Lbid, vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 1829.

}vi LIFE OF ELYOT.

hand the building of certaine colleges, namely his college in
Oxford, called then Frideswide, now Christ’s Church,’ *

In March 1528, according to a letter still preserved in the
British Museum, the Abbot of Bruerne in Oxfordshire was
indicted for a riot. It is possible that it was with reference
to this that John Knolles writing from Calais to Sir Edward
Chamberlain on June 7, the same year, says that he ‘under-
stands.that Mr. Ellyat has made a riot of the business
beside Woodstock, when Chamberlain met him hunting,
and has almost undone the poor men of Woodstock by
summoning them to London at their own cost.’ And then
he adds, ‘My lord Cardinal has made him Clerk of the
Council.’®

Up to this time Elyot had continued to act in the capacity
of Clerk of Assize whilst performing the more important
duties of his new office. But he was now induced to resign
the former appointment. ‘By the solicitation of some men
which yet doo lyve, my sayde lorde bearing me on hand that
I was and sholde be so necessary to be continually attendant
on the Counsayle that it shold be expedient for me to leve
the office of the Assises, (promysing moreover that by his
meanes the King shold otherwise shortly promote me bothe
to more worship and proffite) finally willed me to resigne my
said office takyng onely for it CCli., which after longe resis-
tence finally I meist folow his pleasure to keepe him my
goode Lorde.’* The office which Elyot resigned was be-
stowed upon Robert Dacres the nephew of Dr. John Tayler
the Master of the Rolls.4

The reader will doubtless have observed in the account

* Wordsworth’s Zecles. Biog. vol. ii. p. 231.
> Lett. and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol. iv. pt. 3, p. 3156.
* Ellis, Orig. Lett. vol. ii. p. 116, Ist series.
* Lett. and Pap. Hen, VIIT, vol. iv. pt. 3, p. 3129.

LIFE OF ELYOT. ἵν:

above quoted from Elyot’s own letter of the manner of his
appointment by Wolsey a somewhat singular expression.
‘The Cardinal,’ he says, ‘advauncid me (as he supposid) to be
Clerk of the Counsayle.’ The words in parenthesis have a
special significance of their own and were not added without
good reason. Although Elyot not only discharged the duties
of Clerk of the Council, but had even resigned another lucra-
tive office at the express request of Wolsey, the salary which
was due to him as Clerk of the Council continued to be with-
held. We naturally inquire the reason of this manifest
injustice and Elyot himself supplies the answer. ‘Whan the
yere was finisshid,’ he says, ‘I suyd to him (ze. the Cardinal)
to optayne a patent for the office in the Counsayle, which his
Grace didd as I herd say, but I could never com by it:
Doctor Cleyburgh and other keping it from me. After I
suyd for the fee, which as I herd saye was fourti marcs by
the yere, wherof I hadd promyse, but I never receyyid it.
So by the space of six yeres and an half I servyd the King
not in the Sterre Chamber onely, but in some things per-
tayning to the Clerk of the Croune, some to the Secretaries,
and other travailes which I will not now reherce lest ye
sholde deeme me longe in praising my self, and all this time
without fee, withoute reward more than the ordinare : and that
which more grevith me, withoute thank of the King which I
deservyd as it wold appier if his Grace hadd ben truely
infourmed of me, and my drawghtes seene which I devisid
and made to my sayde Lorde. In this unthankfull travayle
I no thing gate but the colike and the stone, debilitating of
nature, and all moste contynuell destillations or rewmes,
ministres to abbreviate my lif; which though it be of no
grete importance, yet some wayes it mought be necessary.
Finally, after the deth of my sayde Lorde, there was a former

lviii LIFE OF ELYOT.

patente founde of the sayde office and myn was callid in and
cancelled.’ *

The literal truth of this last statement is most strikingly
confirmed by a document still preserved in the Public
Record Office, and now printed for the first time in the
Appendix to this volume. It purports to be a grant of
letters patent conferring the office of Clerk of the Council
upon Elyot. The pen has been drawn obliquely across the
original record and in the margin is a note stating why the
grant was cancelled. This latter course was adopted appar-
ently for the following reason. A patent was made out for
Elyot in 1528, on the express condition that Richard Eden,
the then holder of the office, would surrender the letters
patent granted to him on October 21, 1512. Eden, who as
we have already said was a pluralist, and is indeed actually
stated in this document to be incapable of properly perform-
ing the duties of the office because diversis negociis suis im-
plicitus, omitted or refused to surrender the grant, but no doubt
continued to draw the salary. This condition precedent
therefore not having been performed, the grant to Elyot
was held to be legally void and inoperative. The Doctor
Cleyburgh, mentioned above, was one of the Masters in Chan-
cery” whose duty it probably was to enrol the letters patent.

The temptation to recoup himself for the loss of his
salary by indirect means must have been very great, and pro-
bably in that age would have overcome the scruples of most
men placed in a similar position. But Elyot resisted the
temptation; conscientiously ‘refusing fees, to thintent in
servyng the Kyng I wold lyve out of all suspicion.’* His

* Ellis, Orig. Lett. vol. ii. pp. 116, 117, Ist series.
> Lett. and Pap. Henry VIII. vol. iv. pt. 3, p. 2717.
* Ellis, Orig. Lett. vol. ii. p. 117, Ist series.

LIFE OF ELYOT. lix

punctilious honesty in this respect stands out in pleasing
relief against the dark background of corruption in which
many public men at this period were involved, and none more

than the Cardinal himself. What evidently affected Elyot

more than the loss of his salary to which he was justly en-
titled, was the fact that his services were not only not
recognised as they deserved, but were actually concealed
from the King. The ‘drawghtes,’ to which he alludes, were
in all probability minutes of the proceedings of the Privy
Council. The register, as we have already said, is missing for
this period, and does not commence until August 10, 1540,
from which date it has been regularly continued down to the
present day.

The foregoing circumstances considered, we can scarcely
be surprised at Elyot’s forcible denunciation of ingratitude,
as in his opinion ‘the most damnable vice and most against
justice.’ If, however, he failed to get the due reward of
his labour, he made a bargain with the King about this time,
which may possibly have compensated him in some measure for
the loss of his salary. The royal wardships, that is, the right
of the sovereign as lord paramount to dispose of the estates
of his wards during minority, an incident of the feudal system,
formed a considerable part of the revenues of the Crown. In
May 1528, Elyot bought from the King for the sum of 80/,
the wardship of Erasmus Pym, the infant son and heir of
Reginald Pym, together with the custody of the manor of
Cannington near Bridgewater, and a third part of the manor
of Exton and Hawkridge near Dulverton in Somersetshire.*
It is interesting to us to know that this young Pym was the
father of the famous John Pym, celebrated for all time as

* Lett. and Pap. Hen, VIII, vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 1897, and pt. 3, p. 2433.

lx LIFE OF ELYOT.

one of the ‘five members’ impeached by Charles I.* Thus,
if it be true, as stated by Browne Willis,” that our author
was allied to the family of Sir John Eliot, the two famous
champions of the seventeenth century, who represent respec-
tively the earlier and the later struggle for Parliamentary
liberty, were actually connected by an hereditary bond of
union hitherto unsuspected.

In June 1530 the Archdeacon of Middlesex obtained a
new grant of letters patent of the office of Clerk of the Coun-
cil to himself and Thomas Eden (probably his son) in survi-
vorship.© Elyot’s services were accordingly no longer required.
To quote his own words, he was ‘discharged without any recom-
pence, rewarded only with the order of Knighthode, honorable
and onerouse, having moche lasse to lyve on than bifore.’4
Knighthood in the sixteenth century was conferred not so
much for the purpose of doing honour to the recipients as of
replenishing the royal exchequer. Hence Elyot regarded
this new dignity much as the gift of a white elephant. To
make matters worse, he had lately been compelled to pay
3482, a large sum in those days, and certainly more than ten
times the amount now represented by those figures, to Sir
William Fynderne’s executor. ‘To minish my poure astate,
I hadd a little before payid to doctor Naturess, executor to
Syr William Fynderne, to redeeme certayne yeres, duryng
the which he claymed to take the profits of my land for the
execution of a wille, thre hundred and xlviii pounds,’* This
Doctor Naturess or Natares, was Master of Clare College,
Cambridge, in 1513, and subsequently Vice-Chancellor of the
University. He was Rector of Weston Colville, in which

® Collinson, Hist. Somersetshire, vol. i. p. 234.

> Notitia Parliament. vol. ii. p. 145.

° Lett. and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol..iv. pt. 3, p. 2917.

ἃ Ellis, Orig. Letd, vol. ii. p. 117, Ist series, * Ellis, «dé supra.

LIFE OF ELVYOT. Ixi

parish Sir William Fynderne had a manor, and it was very
natural therefore that the latter should appoint him his exe-
cutor. Ξ

In June 1530 we find Elyot’s name(he was now Sir Thomas)
in the Commissions of Gaol Delivery for both Cambridge
Castle and Oxford Castle.* In the following month he was
one of five Commissioners appointed to inquire concerning the
possessions held by Wolsey in Cambridgeshire on December 2,
1523, the Cardinal’s attainder having relation back to that date.
Elyot’s colleagues were Sir Robert Payton, Giles Alyngton,
Thomas Lucas, and Philip Parys.» The fact of Elyot’s name
appearing on this Commission is relied upon by Mr. Cooper
as a proof of his ‘having been a time-server.® Such an
inference, however, seems hardly a fair one. The duty of
making this inquiry, which was not instituted until long after
Wolsey had pleaded guilty to the premunire, was imposed
upon Elyot in common with hundreds of other gentlemen
throughout England, for no other reason than that he hap-
pened to be one of the principal landed proprietors in this
particular county. With quite as much reason might Mr.
Cooper accuse Sir Richard Lister, the Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, or Sir Christopher Hales, the Attorney-General,
of being time-servers, for both sat on the same Commission,
and both probably owed their advancement to the same patron,
the late Chancellor. Moreover, the duty which Elyot in com-
mon with all the other Commissioners had to perform was .
a purely formal one, viz., to take evidence on oath. It is
therefore, difficult to see how the charge which Mr. Cooper
brings against him can be sustained, when we consider that
his appointment by the Government to take part in an

* Lett, and Pap. Hen. VIII, vol. iv. pt. 3, pp. 2918, 2919. -
> Rymer, Fadera, vol, xiv. p. 403. ° Athen. Cantad, vol. i. p. 89.

Ixii LIFE OF ELYOT.

inquiry, for the institution of which he was in no degree
responsible, was due solely to the fact of his being a gentle-
man of position, and perhaps specially qualified from his
previous employment in the public service.

We do not know in what year Thomas Elyot married. That
event, however, probably took place after his father’s death, and
before the period in his career at which we have now arrived.
His wife was Margaret, daughter of John Abarrow, of North
Charford, a parish in Hampshire, about six miles from Salis-
bury.* Her family, therefore, must have been well known to
Elyot, for they had been close neighbours. Her literary
tastes had perhaps influenced his choice, and would certainly
cement the bond of sympathy between them. She, as well
as her husband, was a frequent student in that famous school
of Sir Thomas More,” which, we are told, was ‘rather an
universitie than a private schole,’ and ‘was liked and praysed
of great and learned both at home and abroade.’* A portrait
of her painted by Holbein, is now in the possession of Her
Majesty at Windsor.

Elyot’s official occupations had evidently not absorbed
the whole of his time or thoughts, and he must have em-
ployed whatever intervals of leisure fell to his lot to
exceedingly good purpose. In 1530-31 he published his
first, and, as the verdict of posterity has pronounced it to be,
his most celebrated work, Zhe Governour, dedicating it to
the King as the first fruits of his study. His principal object
in writing this book was, as he has himself told us, ‘to in-
struct men in such vertues as shall be expedient for them

5 Berry, Hampshire Geneal. p. 265.
> «Thomam Eliottum scriptorem inter Anglos clarum, cujus etiam uxor in

schola Mori (de qua postea) operam literis dedit.’"—Stapleton, Vita Thome Mori,

p- 59, ed. 1588.
* Wordsworth’s Zecles, Biog. vol. ii. p. 122, ed, 1853.

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixili

whiche shall haue auctoritee in a weale publike.’, In ‘the
Proheme,’ or Preface, he explains his choice of the title, which
as a combination of terseness and vagueness, may perhaps be
compared most appropriately with the titles not unfrequently
adopted by novelists of the present day.

The Governour may very fairly be described as the earliest
treatise on moral philosophy in the English language. ‘ By
moral philosophy,’ says Hallam, ‘we are to understand not
only systems of ethics and exhortations to virtue, but that
survey of the nature or customs of mankind which men of
reflecting minds are apt to take, and by which they become
qualified to guide and advise their fellows. The influence of
such men through the popularity of their writings, is not the
same in all periods of society; it has sensibly abated in
modern times, and is chiefly exercised through fiction, or at
least a more amusing style than was found sufficient for our
forefathers; and from this change of fashion, as well as from
the advance of real knowledge and the greater precision of
language, many books once famous, have scarcely retained a
place in our libraries, and never lie on our tables.’” These
remarks are especially applicable to Zhe Governour. For one
person at the present day who has heard of the existence of
such a book, one hundred might probably have been counted
in the sixteenth century who had almost got it by heart.

The moral and social duties of princes, a topic which in
the middle ages had frequently exercised the pens of the
schoolmen and theologians, acquired still greater prominence
in the fifteenth century, in consequence probably of the
steady progress towards absolute monarchy, and formed
the subject of numerous treatises, especially in Italy. To

* See Preface to Zhe Image of Governance,
» Lit. of Europe, vol. i. p. 395, 4th ed,

Ixiv LIFE OF ELYOT.

John of Salisbury belongs the credit of being one of the
earliest, if not the first, in medizval times, to point out how
a prince owing obedience to the law is superior to an irre-
sponsible despot.* In the following century Thomas Aquinas
commenced, and his disciple, Bartholomzus of Lucca, is re-
puted to have completed,” the famous treatise, De Regimine
Principum, which has been imitated and plagiarised by so
many subsequent writers. A®gidio Colonna, a member of the
celebrated Neapolitan family, but better known by his French
sobriquet, Gilles de Rome, was the next deserving of notice
who directed attention to this subject. His treatise, of which
not merely the idea, but the title, was borrowed from that of
the great Dominican, was written early in the fourteenth
century, although it did not appear in print till 1473. Our
own countryman Occleve, the contemporary of Chaucer, was
guilty of a similar plagiarism, and adopted the same title for
his own poem. He did not, however, stoop to conceal the
source of his inspiration. ‘Of Gyles of Regement of Prynces
plotmele thynke I to translate.’ °

In the fifteenth century two celebrated Italian writers,
Giovanni Pontano and Philip Beroaldo, composed treatises on
the same subject but with different titles, that of the former
being entitled De Principe, whilst that of the latter was
styled De Optimo Statu et Principe.

In the same century and in the same country there
appeared a more elaborate work, following the plan of
Valerius Maximus, which acquired a still greater reputa-
tion than either of the preceding. This was the De Regno
et Regis Institutione of Francesco Patrizi, which has an
especial interest for us from the fact that Sir Thomas

* See Polycraticus, lib. iv. > Quetif, Script. Ord. Predic, tom. i. p. 543.
© De Reg. Prin. p. 74. Roxburghe Club,

͵, ὡς

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixv

Elyot borrowed largely from its pages. It appears, indeed,
as if the author of 7he Governour had taken it for his
model. Francesco Patrizi, has often been confounded with
his namesake, a philosophical writer in the succeeding cen-
tury, whose best known works are two treatises on Roman
antiquities, called respectively Della Milizia Romana and
Paralleli Militari. The elder Patrizi, a native of Sienna,
from which city he appears to have been banished about
1457, was raised by Pius II. the patron of all the learned
men of his time, to the episcopal throne of Gaieta in 1460,
over which diocese he presided during the long period of
thirty-four years." His De Regno et Regis Institutione re-
mained unpublished for many years after his death, and was
printed for the first time at Paris in 1518 by Jean de Savigny
from a MS. which Jean Prévost, Councillor of State, had
brought with him from Italy.” The great number of editions
through which Patrizi’s work subsequently passed, affords
tolerably good evidence of the estimation in which it was
held by the learned in the sixteenth century. When, more
over, we find that it was translated into the vernacular in two
countries, we need scarcely seek further for a proof of its
general popularity. Italian versions appeared in 1545 and
1547, and French in 1520, 1550, and again in 1577.

On comparing the De Regno et Regis Institutione with
The Governour, it will be seen at once that there is a very
remarkable similarity in the plan of the respective works.
But independently of this general resemblance, the identity
of some particular passages is now so clearly established,°
that we may fairly conclude that Elyot had made himself well

® Niceron, Hom. 711. tom, xxxvi. pp. 15-20,
> Chevillier, LZ’ Orig. de ?Imprim. p. 187.
¢ See the passages referred to in the Appendix to this volume.

d

᾿ Ixvi LIFE OF ELVOT.

acquainted with the contents of Patrizi’s book, published, as
we have seen, about twelve years earlier, and of which he
probably possessed a copy. It is curious, however, that whilst
on the one hand he refers in express terms to the Jzstitutio
Principis Christiant of Erasmus, which supplied him, amongst
other things, with materials for his ‘Seven Articles’ * and on
the other acknowledges his obligation to Pontano, from
whom also he borrowed largely, Elyot makes no allusion
whatever to Patrizi.

The English author, however, had another object in
view beyond that of writing an ethical treatise according
to the approved pattern, and in this respect his book, when
compared with those which preceded it, may undoubtedly
claim the merit of originality. Elyot was very conscious
of the poverty of the Anglo-Saxon as compared with
other languages, and he desired above all things to aug-
ment its vocabulary. Like other reformers, he had to en-
counter the contemptuous opposition of those who hated all
innovation. ‘Diuers men rather scornyng my benefite than
receyuing it thankfully, doo shewe them selfes offended (as
they say) with my strange termes.” But the King, who was
himself a good linguist, showed a higher appreciation of
Elyot’s efforts than these cavillers. ‘His Highnesse be-
nignely receyuynge my boke, whiche I named The Governour,
in the redynge therof sone perceyued that I intended to
augment our Englyshe tongue wherby men shulde as well
expresse more abundantly the thynge that they conceyued in
theyr hartis (wherfore language was ordeyned), hauynge
wordes apte for the pourpose, as also interprete out of greke,
latyn, or any other tonge into Englysshe? as sufficiently as

“ See Vol. II. p. 2. ;
» See Preface to The Knowledge whiche maketh a wise man, ed. 1533. ᾿

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixvii

out of any one of the said tongues into an other. His Graec
also perceyued that through out the boke there was no terme
new made by me of a latine or frenche worde, but it is there
declared so playnly by one mene or other to a diligent reder,
that no sentence is therby made derke or harde to be under-
stande.’

In another respect, too, the King exhibited a degree
of tolerance hardly to be expected from a man of his high
spirit. Elyot had foreseen the possibility of an indig-
nant outcry being raised, as soon as his book appeared, by
some of those in authority, who might consider themselves
aggrieved by his censure of the vices of noblemen, and had
anticipated the coming storm by protesting that his remarks
must be taken as capable only of a general, and not a par-
ticular application. These apprehensions were not altogether
groundless. For writing two years after the publication of
The Governour, he tells us that some men, ‘finding in my
bokis the thing dispreysed whiche they do commende in
usynge it, lyke a galde horse abidynge no playsters, be alwaye
gnappynge and kyckynge at suche examples and sentences
as they do feele sharpe or do byte them ; accomptyng to be
in me no lyttel presumption that I wyll in notynge other
mens vices correct Magnificat, sens other moche wyser men
and better lerned than I doo forbeare to wryte anythynge.
And whiche is warse than all this, some wyll maliciously
diuine or coniecte that I wryte to the intent to rebuke some
particular persone, couaytinge to brynge my warkes and after-
ward meinto the indignation of some man in auctorytie.”* But
the man who was highest of all in authority took a far wider
and nobler view of the author’s design. ‘Ne the sharpe and
quycke sentences or the rounde and playne examples set out

* Preface to The Knowledge whiche maketh a wise man.
d2

Ixviii LIFE OF ELYOT.

in the versis of Claudiane the poete, in the seconde boke, or
in the chapiters of Affabilitie, Beneuolence, Beneficence, and
of the diuersitie of flaterers, and in dyuers other places in
any parte offended his Hyghnes, but (as hit was by credible
persones reported unto me) his Grace not onely toke hit in the
better parte, but also with princely wordes full of maiestie,
commended my diligence, simplicite, and corage, in that I
spared none astate in the rebukynge of vice,’ *

However cold a reception The Governour may have met
with in some quarters, the King at all events seems to have
regarded its author as deserving of favour at his hands. There
can be little doubt that Elyot’s appointment as Ambassador
to the Emperor in the Low Countries was not unconnected
with the publication of a book which at once stamped its author
not merely as one of the foremost scholars of the day, but as
a staunch adherent to the monarchical form of government.

It has been suggested by an eminent writer that Elyot ‘did
not venture to handle the political part of his subject as he
wished to do.’” It may be admitted that the reader will look
in vain in The Governour for the admirable ingenuity of the
Utopia or the cynical boldness of Te Prince of Machiavel. But
we must remember that Elyot’s object was neither to construct
an ideal form of government nor to teach rulers the arts of
state-craft. He designed in the first place to call attention
to one of the chief necessities of the age, a better system of
education for the sons of noblemen and gentlemen who were
afterwards to take part in public affairs, those ‘that hereafter
may be deemed worthy to be gouernours.’ In the second place
he designed to instil into the minds of such persons, when they
should arrive at the age of maturity, and be called to the

* Preface to The Knowledge whiche maketh a wise man, ed. 1533.
» Hallam, Zit. of Zur, vol. i. p. 401, 4th edn,

‘LIFE OF ELYOT. lxix

government of the State, those principles of morality which
should regulate their conduct and enable them to be of service
to their country, ‘ for the which purpose only they be called to be
gouernours,’ These two principal designs are the guiding stars
- which from first to last Elyot keeps steadily in view in the pages
of The Governour. That in carrying out his intention he has,
whether consciously or unconsciously, imitated the plan of
the Italian writer does not at all diminish the credit which is
due to himself. But Zhe Governour is very far indeed from
being merely a servile copy of Patrizi’s work. Certainly in
knowledge of the world, acquired by personal observation of
men and manners, if not in mere book-learning, the Italian
would have to yield the palm to the English writer.

The success of The Governour froma literary point of view,
notwithstanding ‘the malignity’ of the time, ‘all disposed,’ as its
author tells us, ‘to malicious detraction,’ was soon completely
established. Its popularity eclipsed that of any other book
of the same period, not excepting even the Utopia. So great
was tlie demand in fact that the printer could scarcely supply
copies fast enough. Zhe Governour was reprinted three times,
under the personal supervision of its author. In the space of
fifty years no less than eight editions of this work were
published, the last being dated 1580." Of these five at least
were put forth from the same press, that of Thomas Berthelet,
who printed the first edition. Of the remainder one was
printed by Thomas Marsh, another (the last) by East, whilst
an edition published in 1557 has no printer’s name or place ap-
pended. ‘The price and convenience of books,’ says Hallam,
‘are evidently not unconnected with their size.’ The shape in

® Hazlitt, Collect. and Notes, p. 143. Mr. Henry Pyne, of 18 Kent Terrace,
Regent’s Park, is, we believe, in possession of a copy of each of the editions which
are mentioned by Hazlitt.

> Lit. of Zur. vol. i. p. 246, 4th ed.

Ixx LIFE OF ELYOT.

which Zhe Governour appeared, as a small octavo volume,
capable of being easily carried in the pocket (after the first
edition the size was still further reduced), would be well cal-
culated to render it attractive in the eyes of men, whose libraries
hitherto had consisted chiefly if not entirely of ponderous folios
or quartos, ; |

The interest which The Governour excited among men of
letters is attested not merely by its rapid and extensive sale,
but by the subsequent appearance of numerous imitations.
Without going so far as to suggest that the work which
Budzeus wrote and dedicated to Francis I in 1547, entitled
De lInstitution du Prince, might have been inspired by a
perusal of Elyot’s book, we may remark that the points of
resemblance between them seem almost too close to be
entirely accidental. The same observation would apply to
John Sturm’s treatise De educandis erudiendisque Principum
liberts, published in 1570, and dedicated to Duke William,
brother of Anne of Cleves. Indeed, it is by no means
improbable that Sturm had become acquainted with The
Governour, if not with its author. His treatment of the
subject of education is at any rate similar in many respects
to that of Elyot. But not to look further than our
own country. In 1555 a book, bearing the title of The
Institucion of a Gentleman, was published anonymously, and
dedicated ‘to the Lorde Fitzwater, son and heir of the Earl of
Sussex. In 1606 Ludovick Bryskett, the friend of the poet
Spenser, wrote A Discourse of Civill Life, containing the
Ethike part of Morall Philosophie fit for the instructing of a
Gentleman tn the course of a vertuous life. In 1622 The Compleat
Gentleman, by Henry Peacham, appeared, and was so well
received that it was several times reprinted. In each and all.
of the above-mentioned works we see that the main idea of

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxi

The Governour has‘ been borrowed and adapted according to
the taste of the writer. A more careful search would doubt-
less enable us to discover many other works bearing traces of
the influence exercised by Zhe Governour upon the minds of
men in the sixteenth century. Ascham’s Schoolmaster and
Locke’s Thoughts concerning Education, works of an analogous
character, though far removed from each other in point of
time, may be regarded as still further developing ideas to
which Elyot was the first to give expression. And as we
have alluded to Ascham, we may observe that Hallam con-
siders Elyot ‘worthy upon the whole, on account of the
solidity of his reflections, to hold a higher place’ than the
author of The Schoolmaster,‘to whom in some respects he
bears a good deal of resemblance.’* On such a point the
reader will probably be content to accept Hallam’s verdict as
conclusive.

In the autumn of the year in which The Governour was
published Sir Thomas Elyot received his commission as the
accredited envoy of Henry to Charles V. On Sept. 4, 1531,
Chapuys, the Imperial Ambassador at the English Court,
wrote word to the Emperor that being lately with the King
to ask a reply to his letter touching the chapter of the Tozson
DOr, the King ordered him to say that in ten days he would
despatch a new Ambassador with the requisite instructions.
And a week later he writes, ‘The Ambassador to be sent to
your Majesty is Master Vuylliot (Elyot), a gentleman of 700
or 800 ducats of rent, formerly in the Cardinal’s service, now
in that of the lady (Anne Boleyn), who has promoted him to
this charge. When he starts, the Master of the Rolls (Dr.
Tayler), who is an old ecclesiastical doctor, goes with him to
France as successor to Brian”

® Lit, of Zur, vol. i. p. 401, 4th ed. » MS. Public Record Office.

Ixxil LIFE OF ELYOT.

In this latter statement Chapuys appears to have been
mistaken. Sir Francis Brian was not superseded. On the
contrary, he remained in France for several years after this
date.

We are fortunately enabled to lay before the reader the
instructions as to the object of his embassy which Sir Thomas
Elyot received from the King on this occasion, from a MS.
preserved among the Cottonian collection in the British
Museum. This interesting document, which from the style of
the handwriting is evidently a modern copy, has already been
printed by Mr. Pocock.* That gentleman has, however,
assigned to it the date October 7, 1532, but the Editor came
to the conclusion, after consulting Mr. J. Gairdner, that an
error of a whole year had been made, and that the true date
is October 7, 1531. The following are the instructions re-
ferred to:

‘Trusty and right well beloved, we greet you well; and
thinking it expedient to fish out and know in what opinion
the Emperor is of us, and whether, despairing of our old
friendship towards him, or fearing other our new communica-
tion with France he seeketh ways and means that might be
to our detriment or no, we have thought it right convenient
that ye, knowing our mind and purpose in this behalf, should
at the first repair to the Emperor, after such words of
salutation as be comprised in your instructions, say unto the
same Emperor on our behalf that whereas we by our Ambas-
sadors at Rome complaining to the Pope of the misintreating
of us, and the manifest injuries done to us by his deputies in
calling us to Rome, there by ourself or our Proctor to make
answer, the which the universities of Paris and Orleans the
Chauncelor of France and our good brother’s the French

* See Rec. of Ref, vol. 11, p. 329, ed. 1870.

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxili

King’s Councillors and Presidents of the Court of Parliament
in Paris affirm to be notorious wrong against all laws, and that
all other learned men for the most part elsewhere confirm the

same ; forasmuch as answer hath been made by the Pope that

the Emperor written unto by him will not otherwise agree, but
saith (as the Pope voucheth) that he will have the cause
examined in none other place but at Rome, we have thought
good to signify the premisses unto the said Emperor by you
in your first access to the same, and to say on our behalf that
we, remembering what words the Emperor hath heretofore
spoken concerning our great cause between us and the Queen,
how he would not meddle otherwise than according to justice,
with that considering how little cause he hath to do us wrong,
or to be author or favourer of any injustice to be done unto
us, we having always deserved favour, pleasure, and kindness
on our part, we be induced to believe rather that the said
Emperor is wrongfully reported by the Pope, and that they
would for the extension of their authority use the said
Emperor for a visage than otherwise. And yet on the other
side the Pope so often repeating the same unto us, and brought
to a point to stay to use for a refuge, to say the Emperor will
not, that hath compelled us by you to open this matter unto
the said Emperor, who we doubt not, if he hath so encouraged
the Pope- upon ignorance to do us wrong, he will himself
reform it, and also knowing by you what the Universities of
Paris and Orleans, and also the Chauncelor of France, being
a Cardinal and learned in the Pope’s law, with other the
French King’s Councillors, our learned men, and them also
in Italy affirm the same, he will rather believe this public
asseveration, and especially of the Council of France being
friends indifferent, than any private information made to him
to the contrary, or else in case the said Emperor hath not so

Ixxiv LIFE OF ELVOT.

far meddled as the Pope saith nor answered.......
7a a ae ον Pes to us he will declare himself accordingly.
And if the Emperor, desirous to have the matter more
opened, shall ask what the Pope doth wherein we think our-
self wronged, ye may say, in calling and citing us to Rome,
there to appear by us or our Proctor, which is contrary to all
laws, as all lawyers affirm, and especially they in France, as
friends indifferent, and answering only for the testification of
the truth, against whom can be alleged no cause of affection
which should move them to swarve from the truth. And if
the Emperor shall reply to know what the Universities affirm,
and what the Chauncellor and other the Presidents of the
Court of Parliament of Paris do say, ye may answer how they
say that we may not be cited to Rome, there to appear by
us or our Proctor, and that such a citation is not only nought,
and all their process thereupon following, but also manifest
injuries and wrong, which trust ye may say the Emperor of
his honour will not maintain. And if the Emperor shall say
that he is not learned, and understandeth not these matters,
but will do that Justice will, and that further he cannot skill
ne will meddle, ye may reply that forasmuch as he is not
learned he may be the sooner abused, and whether he hath
answered to the Pope, as is affirmed, or no, he knoweth ne yet
requireth any learning. Wherefore if he have so done, per-
ceiving that intending only justice he hath been in this point
moved to advance injustice, we doubt not but like a prince
of honor he will reform himself, and rather desist from doing
or procuring his friend wrong, than to proceed any further in
the same. And for this purpose we have willed you to declare
the premisses unto him on our behalf, whereunto you shall
“desire him to make his answer to be signified unto us accord-
ingly, willing you to note his answer to the particularities,

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxv

and how he taketh the determination of the French King’s
Council, and what he saith to you therein, and by all the
means you can to ensearch whether there is any meeting

‘intended,’ *

Stephen Vaughan was at this time the English Resident
at Antwerp, and had been instructed to watch Tyndale’s
movements, who was known to be in that city. Vaughan
was suspected by Henry of being favourably disposed towards
the great Reformer, and had thereby caused great embarrass-
ment to Cromwell, his friend and patron. Advantage was
therefore taken of Elyot’s mission to the Emperor to adopt a
more vigorous course of action. The new envoy was ordered,
before he returned to England, to search for and if possible to
apprehend Tyndale.

By the end of November Elyot had reached Tournai, and
had placed himself in communication with Vaughan. For
the latter writing to Cromwell, Dec. 9, says, ‘Master Elyot,
the King’s Ambassador, this day sent me a letter from
Tournay with another enclosed to you, wherein I think he
desires you to be a solicitor to the King’s Majesty and to his
honourable Council for him, that he may from time to time
have answer of his letters, and be made thereby more able to
do the King honour in these parts. It is not well done that

_ he should be so long without letters, considering his little

experience in these parts, who in short time, in mine opinion,
would do right well if he were a little holpen.’»

This extract from Vaughan’s letter is interesting for two
reasons. It shows us that Elyot was kept without instructions
from home, and with his own letters unacknowledged, and
further that Vaughan had evidently conceived a favourable

* Cotton MSS. Vitell. B. XXI. fo. 56.
» Cotton MSS. Galba B. X. fo. 21. See Demaus, Life of Tyndale, p. 337.

Ixxvi LIFE OF ELYO7,

opinion of the new Ambassador. The good understanding
which evidently subsisted between these two envoys, Vaughan
and Elyot, is worthy of notice when we remember that
ultimately the latter was no more successful in arresting
Tyndale than the former had been in persuading the Reformer
to come to England. Taking this fact in connection with
Elyot’s protes: to Cromwell, to be mentioned presently, it
seems not unlikely that Elyot himself incurred a somewhat
similar suspicion to that under which Vaughan laboured. Be
this as it may, the circumstance that Vaughan entertained a
good feeling for Elyot, and spoke of him in a way which he
would hardly have done if he had regarded him as personally
a bitter enemy of Tyndale, has been entirely ignored by the
author of the Biography of William Tyndale. Mr. Demaus
has nothing but praise for Vaughan, acknowledging ‘a deep
debt of gratitude to the official whose kindness comforted the
noble heart of the martyr in his exile, and whose writings
have preserved for posterity such genuine and picturesque
glimpses of the personal history of the Reformer.’* On the
other hand, he seems to regard Sir Thomas Elyot with
special aversion, and as deserving of the utmost contempt,
merely for endeavouring faithfully to discharge his duty to
his sovereign. This unfair view of Elyot’s conduct can only
be compared with the charge brought against him by Mr.
Cooper of ingratitude to Wolsey, with which we have already
dealt. The Rev. H. Waller, the editor of Tyndale’s works,
affords a similar example of the length to which prejudice can
be carried. This gentleman informs us that Elyot ‘consented
to be employed in the mean work of trepanning Tyndale to
gratify the King’s evil passions.’ Statements like these are

* Page 340. » Doctrinal Treatises, Ὁ. li, ed. Park. Soc.

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxvii

apt to impose upon the reader, until he remembers that Elyot
could have had no option at all in the matter.

In March, 1532, Elyot reached Ratisbon, and on the 14th
of that month he writes the following most interesting letter
to his friend the Duke of Norfolk:

‘My duetie remembrid with moste humble thankes unto,
your Grace [that it] pleasid you so benevolently to remembre
me unto the Kinges High[ness] concerning my retorne into
England. All be it the King willeth me by his Graces lettres
to remayne at Bruxelles some space of time for the appre-
hension of Tyndall, which somewhat minisshith my hope of
soone re[torning], consydering that like as he isin witt move-
able semblably so is his person uncertayne to come by ; and as
ferre as I can perceyve, hering of the Kinges diligence in thap-
prehention of him, he withdrawith him into such places where
he thinkith to be ferthist oute of daunger. In me there shall
lakk none endevor. Finally, as I am all the Kinges, except
my soule, so shall I endure all that shall be his pleasure,
employing my poure lif gladly in that which may be to his
honor or welth of his Realm. Pleasith it your Grace, accord-
ing as I have writen to the Kinges Highness, the Emperor,
being yet sore grievyd with a fall from his horse, kepith him-
self so close that Mr. Cranmer and I can have none accesse
to his Maiestie, which allmoste grievith me as moche as the
Emperors fall grievith him. I have promysid to the King to
write to your Grace the ordre of things in the towne of
Nurenberg, specially concerning the fayth. But first I will
reherce some other townes as they laye in oure waye. The
citie of Wormes, for the more part and allmoste the hole, is
possessid with Lutherians and Jewes, the residue is indifferent
to be shortly the one or the other; trouthe it is that the
Busshop kepith well his name of Episcopus, which is in
Englissh an overseer, and is in the case that overseers of

Ixxviii LIFE OF ELVOT.

testamentes be in England, for he shall have leve to looke so
that he meddle not. Yet some tyme men callyth him overseene,
that is drunke, whan he neither knowith what he doeth, nor
what he owght to doo. The Citie of Spire, as I here saye,
kepith yet their faith well, except some saye there be many
do err in taking to largely this article Sanctorum Com-
muntonem, which hath inducid more charitie than may stonde
with honestie. One thing I markid, suche as were lovers,
divers of them hadd theire paramors sitting with theim in a
draye which was drawen with a horse trapped with bells, and
the lovers, whipping theim, causid theim to trott and to draw
theim thurghoute everie strete, making a grete noyse with
their bells; the women sate with theire heddes discoverid,
saving a chaplet or crounet wrought with nedil wark. I
hadd forgoten to tell that there were grete hornes sett on the
horsis heddis. I suppose it was the tryumphe of Venus, or of
the Devil, or of bothe. All townes ensuing be rather wars”
than better. But I passe theim over at this time. Touching
Nurenberg, it is the moste propre towne and best ordred
publike weale that ever I beheld. There is in it so moche
people that I mervaylid how the towne mowght contayne
them, beside theim which folowid the Emperor.* And notwith-
standing, there was of all vitaile more abundance than I could
see in any place, all thoughe the contray adjoyning of his
nature is very barrayn. I appoyntid to lodge in an Inne,
but Sir Laurence Staber the Kinges servaunt came to me
desyring me to take his house, whereunto I browght with me
the Frenche Ambassador,” where we were well entertayned,
* M. Henne tells us that Charles V. was escorted by ‘150 hommes d’armes
des bandes d’ordonnances qui l’accompagnérent jusqu’d Ratisbonne.’—Wist. du

Regne de Charles V. en Belgique, tom, vi. p. 13.
» Claude Dodieu otherwise known as Le Sieur de Velly. See Papiersd’ Etat .

du Card. de Granvelle, tom. i. p.549.

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxix

and that night the Senate sent to us thirty galons of wyne,
twenty pikes, thirty carpes, a hundrid dasis, with sondry con-
fectiones; the residue of oure chier I will kepe in store untill

I speke with your Grace, which I pray God may be shortly.

Allthough fish was sent to us, yet universally and openly
thurghout the towne men did eate flessh. Allthowgh I hadd
a chapleyne, yet could not I be suffrid to have him to sing
Mass, but was constrayned to here their Mass which is but
one in a Churche, and that is celebrate in forme folowing. The
Preest in vestmentes after oure manner singith everi thing in
Latine as we use, omitting suffrages. The Epistel he readith
in Latin. In the meane time the sub Deacon goeth into the
pulpite and readeth to. the people the Epistle in their vulgare ;
after thei peruse other thinges as our prestes doo. Than the
Preeste redith softly the Gospell in Latine. In the meane
space the Deacon goeth into the pulpite and readith aloude
the Gospell in the Almaigne tung. Mr. Cranmere sayith it
was shewid to him that in the Epistles and Gospels thei kept
not the ordre that we doo, but doo peruse every daye one
chapitre of the New Testament. Afterwards the prest and
the quere doo sing the Credo as we doo; the secretes and
preface they omitt, and the preest singith with a high voyce
the wordes of the consecration ; and after the Levation the
Deacon torneth to the people, telling to them in Almaigne
tung a longe process how thei shold prepare theim selfes to
the communion of the flessh and blode of Christ; and than
may every man come that listith, withoute going to any Con-
fession. But I, lest I sholde be partner of their Communyon,
departid than; and the Ambassador of Fraunce followed,
which causid all the people in the Churche to wonder at us,
[as though] we hadd ben gretter heretikes than thei. One
thing liked me well (to shew your Grace freely my hart). All

Ixxx LIFE OF ELYOT.

the preestes hadd wyves ; and thei were the fayrist women of
the towne, &c. To saye the trouth, all women of this contray
be gentill of spirit, as men report. The day after our coming
the Senate sent gentilmen to shew us their provision of
harneis, ordinance, and corne. I suppose there was in our
sight thre thousand pieces of complete harneys for horsemen ;
the residue we saw not for spending of time ; of gunnes grete
and small it required half a daye to numbre them ; arkbusshes
and crossebowes, I thowght theim innumerable. The pro-
vision of grayn I am aferd to reherse it for jeoperding my
credence. I saw twelve houses of grete length, every house
having twelve floures, on every one corne thurghoute, the
thickness of three feete. Some of the Senate shewed me that
thei hadd sufficient to kepe fifty thousand men abundantly
for one yere. Moche of it have layen long and yet is it
goode as it shall appier by an example that I have now sent
to your Grace of rye, which was layde in there 19 yeres
passid, whereof there remaynith yet above vc quarters. I
doubtid moche to report this to your Grace, but that I trustid
your Grace wold take it in stede of tidinges, and not suppose
me to be the author. Considering that moche strange report
may bring me in suspicion of lying with some men, which hath
conceyvid wrong oppinion of me. Newes there be none worth
the writing; thei doe looke every day here for King Fer-
dinandoes wif,* who men doo suppose will somewhat doo in
persuading the princes of Germany ; bringing with her all hir
children, which is a high poynte of Rhetorike and of moche
efficacie, as old writars supposid. And here an ende of my
poure lettre, which I besieche your Grace to take in goode
part with my harty service. And our Lord mayntayne you

* Anne of Bohemia, who married in 1521, Ferdinand, the brother of.
Charles V.

LIFE QF ELYOT. Ixxxi

in honor with long lif. Writen at Regenspurg the xivth day
of Marche.

‘If it shall please your [Grace] ... Baynton to know
some of theis stories I wo... .’* ;

Elyot must have left Ratisbon very soon after this des-
patch, for early in the following month Augustine, who had
formerly been physician to Wolsey, and was now in the
service of the Emperor, writing from that city to Cromwell,
speaks of Elyot as having been there a little while before.

The following extract from Augustine’s letter exhibits very
clearly not only the friendship which subsisted between these
two men of letters of different nationalities, but the esteem
in which the English Ambassador was held by the members
of the Emperor’s court :

‘Ceterum quia necessitas omnes vias tentare cogit ac
omnem movere lapidem, cum mihi tam multos annos cum
sub recolende memorize Reverendo Domino Winton tum
sub felicis recordationis Reverendissimo Domino Cardinali non
vulgaris intercesserit amicicia inter me ac Dominum Thomam
Elioth, paulo ante hac” oratorem vestrum, propter virtutes
illius, quas semper amavi et amplexatus sum, sicuti e contra
ille propter forsan aliquam de me conceptam virtutis opinionem,
cumque crescor [in his]*° magis ac magis ob mutuam conver
sationem, in qua cum sepius de calami[tatibus meis]° incideret
sermo, non potuit vir ille optimus, eum ad id impellente
bonitate m[entis]° suz et familiaritate nostra, non sepius

» Addressed ‘ To my Lord of Norfolkes Grace,’ Cotton, MSS. Vitell. B. XXI.
fo. 54 orig. This letter has been printed by Ellis in Orig. Left. vol. ii p. 189,
3rd Series, as an anonymous letter ; and als» by Mr. Pocock in Rec. of Ref. vol.
ii, p. 228, who erroneously attributes it to Augustine ; but though the is
signature is wanting, the writer is identified by the indorsement.

» The word o/im, which had been first written, is struck out in the original.

* The words in brackets are supplied by conjecture, the original being
nearly undecipherable on account of the ink having faded, but Mr. Pocock’s

e

Ixxxii LIFE OF ELYOT.

zerumnas meas non indolere et congemiscere, [atque ut]* est
ferventis spiritis in piis causis,omnem operam suam mihi
pollicitus est, ac tecum, [in]* quoomnem spem meam positam
post Deum illi frequenter solitus sum predicare, omnia com-
municaturum, necnon tuo consilio in mea [causa]* a te velle
et cupere dirigi, si inde forte aliquid fructis possit provenire.
Id etiam postremum cum hinc discederet efficacissimé pro-
misit maximo certe sui omnium ordinum immo totius hujus
Aulz relicto desyderio, adeo quod omnium judicio hoc ausim
dicere, quod nemo ex eo inclyto regno jam multis annis
exierit rebus gerundis aptior, principibus gratior, ac tam
diversis nationibus accommodatior. Atque in eo certé veri-
ficatum est illud sapientis dictum, Magistratus scilicet virum
ostendit. Hunc igitur, preestantissime Cromwell, tui non parum
amantem et ingenii tui admiratorem in hac mea causa foveas,
dirigas, et adjuves velim, si forte tuo consilio ingenio et in-
dustria ambo conjunctis viribus mihi aliquid boni acquirere
valeatis. In te tamen unico et potissimo przsidio omnis spes
mea posita est, ut tu qui incepisti hanc provinciam eam etiam
lzeto successu perficias. Ne igitur queso moleste feras si per
eum tanquam subministratorem tuum tento causz mez expe-
ditionem, aut si per alios tentavero, nam id ago (ita me Deus
amet) non quia tibi diffidam, in cujus manibus vitam meam
ponere velim, sed ut magis sis animatus ad negocium meum
perficiendum, et ut junctis studiis opibusque tandem res ista
mea aliquem consequatur eventum.’ ἢ

Elyot returned to England in the spring of 1532. On

reading ‘ cresco in diem,’ must be wrong, the letter r after o, and the letter ἢ and
not d being plainly visible.

* These words are supplied by conjecture, the MS, being here mutilated by
fire,

» Cotton MSS. Vitell. B. X XI, fo. 83 orig. See also Pocock’s Records of Ref.
vol. ii. p. 249, where the letter is assigned to the beginning of April, presumably
rom the internal evidence.

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxxili

June 5 of that year Chapuys, the Imperial Ambassador in
London, gives the following account of an interview he had
had with him two days previously: ‘ The day before yester-
day Master Thomas Elyot, on his return from your Majesty’s
court, where he has been residing as Ambassador, came to
visit me, and told me a great deal about his conversation with
this King, which he said had been greatly to the benefit of
your Majesty, of the Queen your Aunt,® and principally of
the King his master, who he said knowing about it still
showed great desire to hear all the particulars of his mission.
But whatever may be Master Elyot’s assertions, I have strong
doubts of his report having produced as good effect as he
says on the King, for whatever remonstrances have been
addressed to him by different parties have hitherto been dis-
regarded, and a smile or tear from the Lady” has been enough
to undo any good that might have been done in that quarter.
The said Ambassador Elyot, as he tells me, has put down in
writing the whole of his conversation with this King, and
addressed it to Senor Don Fernando de la Puebla,° according
to ycur Majesty’s wishes, in the very cypher which that gentle-
man gave him for the purpose, and therefore I will forbear
saying anything more about it. I am daily expecting to hear
what the Italian gentleman whom Camillo Orsino left behind
him here is really about, and likewise the return of the spy I
sent after him. As soon as I am in. possession of reliable
information 1 will not fail to acquaint Your Majesty, and will
also try to sound the Ambassador Elyot, and pay him as
much court as possible for the better success of the Queen’s
case,’ ὃ

* Catharine of Aragon. > Anne Boleyn.
¢ This was the nephew of the Doctor de Puebla who was the Imperial
Ambassador in England zemp. Hen. VII. See State Pap. vol. vii. p. 161.
4 K. u. Κι, Haus- Hof u. Staats Arch. Wien. Rep. P. Fasc. c. 227, No. 27.
e2

Ixxxiv LIFE OF ELYOT.

This letter, taken in connection with the one written by
Chapuys some months earlier in which he hints that Elyot’s
appointment as Ambassador to the Emperor was due to the
influence of Anne Boleyn, throws a strong light upon a pitfall
to which the statesmen of Henry VIII. often found themselves
exposed. The obedience due to the sovereign, and which
was felt to be of paramount importance for the preservation
of the public weal, not unfrequently conflicted with what must
have been felt to be duties of at least moral obligation and
the inward promptings of conscience. If Chapuys’ informa-
tion were correct, the selection of Elyot for this special
mission was probably made because it was supposed that
he would prove to be, as Augustine’s letter shows us that he
was, persona grata to the Emperor. There can be little
doubt indeed that his real sympathy, like that of all high-
minded men, was enlisted on the side of the injured
Catharine, and that his own feelings with respect to the
question of divorce could not be. effectually concealed
from the Court to which he was attached. It is evident too
from this letter of Chapuys that Elyot was not deficient in
moral courage, and did not hesitate to present in plainer
language perhaps than Henry was accustomed to, the view
which Charles V. took of the latter’s conduct.

Elyot’s mission, as we shall see presently, proved ruinously
expensive to him, and he spent far more than his allowance
in endeavouring to maintain an establishment suitable to his
rank as Ambassador to ‘the second King in Christendom,’
In this respect, however, he seems to have fared no worse
than his contemporaries. The inadequacy of the pay and the
irregularity with which it was remitted were frequent causes
of complaint by the English agents on the Continent.* Nor

* See for instance a letter from Sir John Hackett, State Pap. vol. vii. p. 211,
and one from Dr. Richard Croke, iid. p. 244.

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxxv

was this their only grievance. If we may believe Dr. Nicholas
Hawkins, whilst the Ambassadors of other countries, ‘as well
small as great,’ had their dinner services of silver, he and
Cranmer when at Bologna, were obliged to be content with
tin or pewter. ‘To buy myself I am not able,’ he says, ‘and
I were, I would, for the King’s honour.’* Elyot’s own case
was no different ; he had returned to England enriched indeed
with a large stock of experience and knowledge of men and
manners, but sadly impoverished in purse. To make matters
worse, he was this year nominated Sheriff of Cambridge-
shire, which would necessarily involve him in still further
expenditure. He wrote therefore to his friend Cromwell
begging him to exert his influence to have him excused from
serving the office. The date of this letter is fixed beyond all
doubt by the allusion to the King’s return from his interview
with Francis I. at Calais. According to Hall, Henry landed
at Dover on Wednesday, November 14, 1532.” The following
letter therefore was written four days after the King’s arrival :
‘Mr. Cromwell, I moste hartily commend me unto you.
Assuring you that heering of the honorable and saulf retorne
of the Kinges Highness, I am more joyfull than for any thing
that ever hapned unto me. As contrary wise, whan I first
herd that his Grace intendid to passe the sees, feare of the
greate aventure of his moste Royall person so attachid my
harte, that sens unto this daye it hath bireft me the more
parte of my slepe, whiche I pray godd may be redubbed
with theise comfortable tidinges of his Graces saulfe retorne.
And that I speake without flatery Allmyghti godd is my juge,
unto whome I have more often and more hartily prayid for
the Kinges goode speede than ever I didd for myself in any

@ State Pap. vol. vii. p. 407, and see ibid. p. 453.
> Chron. (Hen, VIII.) fo. ccix. b, ed. 1548.

Ixxxvi LIFE OF ELYOT.

necessitie. Moreover, Sir, I doo not rejoyce a litle that in well
using your excellent witt ye dayly augment the Kinges goode
opinion and favour toward you, to the comfort of your frendes,
of the which numbre thowgh I be one of the leste in substance,
yet in benevolence and syncere love toward you I will com-
pare with any, onely movid thereto for the wisedom and apt-
ness that I see in you to be a necessary Counsaylour unto my
master, whereby I hope the right oppinion of vertue shall
ones be revyved, and false detraction tried oute and putt to
silence, by whome some true and paynefull service have ben
frustrate and kept from suche knowlege as hadd ben expe-
dient. For my part godd and my conscience knowith that
whan the Kinges highness commaundid me to serve him as
his graces Ambassadour, knowing my disshabilitie bothe in
inward and exterior substaunce, I was lothe to go, the King
not offendid; but whan I perceyvid his graces determination,
I, conformyng me unto his graces pleasure, didd deliberate
with myself to extend not onely my poure witt, but allso
my powar above my powar in his graces service, intend-
ing to serve his grace no lasse to his honour than any
bachelor Knight his Ambassadour hadd doone of late dayes.
Wherfor besydes the furniture of myselfe and my ser-
vauntes, at my commyng to Bruxelles I shewid myself
according as it beseemyd to the King of Englondes Am-
bassadour, that is to saye, the seconde Kinge in Christendom,
bothe at my table and other entertaynement of straungers,
thereby fisshing oute* some knowlege that doing otherwise I
sholde have lakkid. How I usid me in myn accesse unto
the Emperour godd is my juge that in my replications I
have seene him chaunge countenance, which, as they know

* The reader will observe. that the very same phrase was used by the King in
his Instructions to Elyot as to the object of his mission. See avée p. Ixxii.

.
;

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxxvii

that have been with him, is no litle thinge. All be it
by suche raisons as I made to serve my master, awayting
oportunity and using such a prince with silken wordes,
as was the counsayls of King Darius mother, I attayned
with him suche familiaritie in communication, that he usid
with me more abundance of wordes than (as some of his
Counsaile confessid) any Ambassadour byfore me hadd founde
in him, which I markid diligently and provyded the better to
serve my master according to his expectation, as moche as
mowght be doone with suche a prince as with long travayle
in counsaile is becom (if I shall not lye falsely) of a mervay-
lous deepe and assurid witt. Finally, that journay is nowe
moche grievouse unto me, as well for that I have browght
myself thereby in grete dett, spending therein allmoste six
hundred marcs above the Kinges alowance, and thereby am
constrayned to putt away many of my servauntes whome I
loved well. As allso that I perceyve the Kinges opynion
mynisshid toward me by that that I perceyve other men
avauncid openly to the place of Counsaylours which neither
in the importaunce of service neither in chargis have servyd
the King as I have doone, and I being ommittid had in
lass estimation than I was in whan I servid the King first in
his Counsayle. Which I speke not for any ambition, but that
onely I desyre that my true hart should not cause me to lyve
bothe in povertie and oute of estimation, for God juge my
soule as I desyre more to lyve oute of dett and in quyete study
than to have as moche as a Kinge may give me. Now know
you my misery, which I pray you helpe as you may. I borowed
of the Kinge a hundred marcs, which I wold fayne paye if
myn other creditours wer not more importune on me than
frendes shold be. Sir, for as moche as the Kinge alowid me
but xxs. the day and I spent xls. the day, and oftentymes

Ixxxviii LIFE OF ELYOT.

four marcs, and moreover I receyvyng the Kinges money in
angells, I lost in every angell xivd. sterling. So that I lakkid
moche of the Kinges alowance. And allso I gave many
rewardes, partly to the Emperours servauntes to gete know-
lege, partly to suche as by whoes meanes I trustid to appre-
hend Tyndall, according to the Kinges commaundment Which
thinges consyderid may it like you, goode Mr. Cromwell, to
move the Kinge to be my goode lorde either to forgyve to
me my dett, or els to alow to me that I lost by myn exchange
and my said rewardes, and to graunt me some lenger tyme to
pay the residue. I heresaye that I am named in the bill of
Sheriffs for Cambrige Shyre. If the King should appoynt me,
than am I more undone, and shall never be able to serve him
nor to kepe my house; consydering that no man eskapith oute
of that office withoute the losse of one hundred marcs, and as
for my practise in office for my profite ye somewhat doo know.
If Godd sent me not other lyving I were likely to begg. If
ye here me named, I pray you shewe to me that kyndness
that by your meanes I may be dischargid. For besides that
which I have spoken, by my fayth I knowe yet no part of the
contray above thre myles from my house, and have very litle
acquayntance to serve the Kinge as he owght to be.

‘ My long lettres have made ye lese tyme, but nede have
constrayned me to be lenger than wisedom wold. But for
your paynes ye shall have my prayer to godd to encrease
you in worship with longe lif.

‘Writen at Carlestowne the xviii day of Novembre,

‘By him that loveth you,
‘Tu. ELyYOoT, Kt.’ ®

Apparently Cromwell was unable to procure for our

* MS. P. R. O. The letter is addressed “Τὸ the right wurshipfull Mr.
Cromwell, one of the Kinges most honorable Counsayle.

LIFE OF ELYOT. Ixxxix

author the exemption he so earnestly desired ; for within a
month we find Elyot again renewing his application, and
repeating the same arguments ad misericordiam, to induce
his friend to make intercession on his behalf. Some portions
of this letter, in which Sir Thomas Elyot reminded Cromwell
of his claim to consideration on the ground of his public
services, have already been given in sketching his previous
career, and may therefore be omitted in this place.

‘Right worshipfull, I recommend me unto you; and
hartily thanke you for your gentill and wyse advertisements
and counsayles gyven unto me in your lettres which I re-
ceyvyd of my lovyng frende Mr. Raynsford.* All be it, Sir,
whan ye shall knowe all the occasions of my discomforte ye
will not so moche blame me as pitie me, if your olde gentill
nature be not chaunged. Mr. Cromwell, I know well howe
moche my duetie is to serve my soveraign lorde truely and
diligently, which godd is my juge I have doone to my powar
with as goode a wille and as gladly as any man could ymagine
to doo, neither for myne obedience onely nor for hope of pro-
mocion, but for very harty love that I bare and doo bere to
the Kinges Highnesse, besydes myn aleageance, thereto moved
by the incomparable goode qualities bothe of his persone and
witte, which I have long wondred at and lovid, as is my
nature to doo in private persones, moche more in Princes,
moste of all in the chief Governor of this Roialm and my
soveraigne Lorde and Master. But whan I consyder myn
infelicitie and losse of tyme in unprofitable study, will I or
no, I am inforced to be cruciate in my poure mynde, which I
confesse to be for lak of wisedom, but I have ben to little a
tyme studious in philosophy. I suppose ye, being wery of
my longe bablyng, tary to here the infelicitie that I com-

* One of the Gentlemen Ushers to Henry VIII. |

xc LIFE OF ELYOT.

a

playne me of. I pray you than take some pacience to here
some part of my grief’ [Elyot then gives the details of his
lawsuit and of his appointment as Clerk to the Council quoted
above.] ‘So withoute any ferme, withoute stokk of catell
except foure hundred shepe to compasse the lands of my
tenaunts, I have hitherto kept a pour house, equall with any
knight in the contrayes wher I dwell, and not withoute in-
dignation of them which have moche more to lyve on. Nowe
althowgh very unmeete and unhabile, I have servyd the
King in his Graces message, how our Lord knoweth, suer I
am truely and faithfully. Therein employed I fyve hundred
and fourty marks above all the Kinges alowance, which I no-
thing repent me of, trusting that his Grace is pleased with my
service ; but now that I trusted to lyve quietely, and by little
and little to repay my creditors and to reconsile myself to
myn olde studies and pray for the King (for other promotion
I lokid not for), I wote not by what malice of fortune I am
constrayned to be in that office wherunto is, as it were
appendant, losse of money and good name. Of the one I am
certayne; the other is hard to eskape, all sharpnesse and
diligence in Justice now a dayes being every where odiouse.
As godd helpe me, sens my commyng over I have dischargid
oute of my service fyve honest and tall personages, con-
straynid of necessitie, untill I mowght recover myself oute of
dett, and now am I compelled to augment my household
eftsones, or ells shold I serve the Kinge sklenderly. Ye here
myn occasions. I pray you than blame me not, thowgh I have
my mynde somewhat inquieted; not that I imbrayde the
King with my service, but that I sorow that his Grace hath
not ben so informed of me as my service requyred, and more-
over that I am not of powar to serve his Grace according |
to his expectation and as my pour hart desyreth. And

LIFE OF ELYOT. xci

goode Mr, Cromwell I thank you that ye will lese so
moche tyme to reade this longe lettre, praying you to
bear part of it in your remembrance, that as oportunitie servith
ye may truely aunswere for your frend, who hartily desyreth
the increase of your worship. And I pray you continue your
favor towards Mr. Raynsford, whom ye shall fynde as honest
and faithfull as any that ever ye were acquaynted with. And
I beseche Godd send you longe lif and well to doo.
‘Writen at Carleton the viii day of Decembre,
‘ By yours assured,

TH. ELYOY, Re"

These two letters, written in November and December
1532, in both of which Elyot complains of the losses he had
incurred through his embassy to the Emperor of Germany,
render it clear that he was not sent on a mission to Rome in
September 1532. Yet such has hitherto been supposed to have
been the case by all our historians, including Strype, Burnet,
and Rapin. The error is probably due to the fact that on the
margin of a MS. in the Cottonian Collection,” headed ‘In-
struckecion given to Sir Thomas Elliotte being sente to the
Pcpe towchinge the devorce,’ the date 1532, September, is
written in a later hand. Now this is the very MS. which is
referred to by Burnet as his authority for the statement that
‘Sir Thomas Elyot was sent to Rome with answer to a mes-
sage the Pope had sent to the King.’* There are two other
copies of these ‘Instructions’ in the British Museum. One
in the Harleian Collection, (No. 283, fo. 102 b orig.) is
apparently a duplicate of the Cotton MS., and probably

* Addressed ‘ To the right worshipfull and myne assuryd frende Mr. Crom-

well.’ Cotton MSS. Titus B. I. fo. 371, orig. printed in Ellis, Ovig. Lett, vol.
ii, p. 113, Ist Series,

» Vitell. B. XIII. fo. 228. * Hist, of Ref. part i. p. 125, ed. 1679.

xcii LIFE OF ELYOT.:

earlier in date. The other, in Rymer’s Collection (Add. MSS
4,622, fo. 91), is headed simply, ‘A minute of a letter sent by
the King to his Embassadour at Rome,’ but varies consi-
derably from the two former, and is much fuller. Amongst
the archives of the Public Record Office is the original draft
of these ‘Instructions, with numerous corrections and addi-
tions in the King’s own hand. This document bears the fol-
lowing indorsement, in a later hand than the body of the
draft, ‘A Minute of a lettre sent by the King to his Embas-
sadour at Rome,’ but there is no date, and nothing on the
face of the document itself to indicate to whom it was sent,
Now the Rymer MS. is either a copy of this draft, with the
additions and alterations, or of a fair copy of an original,
embodying the emendations. On the other hand, both the
Cottonian and Harleian MSS. are evidently transcripts of the
draft as it originally stood before it was corrected and altered
by the King. How Elyot’s name came to be introduced is a
mystery which the Editor frankly admits he is quite unable
to solve. One thing, however, is abundantly clear. Burnet
made use of both the Cotton and the Rymer MSS. to illus-
trate two different periods of his history without discovering
that they were copies of one and thesame document. Thus
he makes Elyot go to Rome armed with these Instructions in
1532," whilst he quotes the very same Instructions as the
contents of a letter sent by the King ‘to his Ambassadors at
Rome,’ subsequent to November 1533.” There can be no
doubt on this point, because he prints the Rymer MS. zz
extenso amongst his Collection of Records® as his authority for
the latter statement. Thus the same document is really made to
serve a double purpose. Burnet’s positive assertion that Elyot

* Hist, of Ref. part i. p. 125, ed. 1679. > Jbid, part iii, p. 86.
* Jbid, part iii, (Coll. of Rec.) p. 47.

LIFE OF ELYOT. XCili

was sent to Rome in the autumn of 1532, was adopted with-
out hesitation by Rapin,* and apparently without any inde-
pendent investigation. Strype, the contemporary of Burnet,
may have had no better authority for saying that Elyot was
‘in the year 1532 the King’s Ambassador to Rome.’
Indeed the modern heading for which no authority has yet
been discovered to the ‘Instructions’ in the Cottonian and
Harleian MSS. seems after all to be the sole foundation
for alleging as a fact that which can be proved aliunde to be
most improbable. For in the first place it is hardly likely
that a man who was called upon to serve the important office
of sheriff, and who prayed in vain to be excused from serving,
should be sent out of the country in another capacity during
his term of office. Now we know that Elyot’s shrievalty
extended from November 1532 to November 1533; for in
the accounts of the treasurers of the town of Cambridge for
the year ending Michaelmas 15 33, we find among other charges
the following: ‘Paid to Sir Thomas Elyot, Knt., Sheriff, for
his friendship, liiis. iv.d’* Again, we have letters from
‘ Elyot himself, written in England in April and May of this
year, making no allusion whatever to any such embassy, and
Chapuys mentions a conversation he had had with him in the
latter month. Moreover, if Elyot had gone as Ambassador
to Rome we should expect to find some reference to him in
the letters of Bonner or Gregory de Cassalis, yet no mention
is made of him in this capacity until nearly a century and a
half after the date of his supposed mission. Hence it appears
certain that this so-called historical fact rests upon no surer
foundation than the heading given by an unknown copyist to
these ‘ Instructions’ many years after they were issued.

* Hist. of Eng. vol. i. p. 796, ed. 1732.
> Eccles, Mem, vol. i. pt. i. p. 341.,
* Cooper, Annals of Cambridge, vol. i. p. 361.

XCIV LIFE OF ELYOT.

The following letter from Elyot to Sir John Hackett, the
English Ambassador in the Low Countries, although the
year is not given, must from internal evidence be referred to
1533, Cranmer having been consecrated Archbishop only a
few days previously : ὃ

‘Mr. Hakett, I hartily commend me unto you, and thanke
you for your gentill lettre that ye sent to me by Mr. Rayns-
ford. I wold that I hadd some comfortable newes to send
you oute of theise partes, but the world is all otherwise. I
- beseche oure lord amend it. We have hanging over us a
grete kloude, which is likely to be a grete storme whan it
fallith. The Kinges highness, thankid be godd, is in goode
helth. I beseche godd contynue it, and send his comfort of
spirite unto him, and that truthe may be freely and thank-
fully herd. For my part I am finally determined to lyve and
dye therin, neither myn importable expences unrecompencid
shall so moche feare me, nor the advauncement of my suc-
cessor,” the busshop of Caunterbury, so much alure me, that I
shall ever deklyne from trouthe or abuse my soveraigne lorde,
unto whome I am sworne, for I am sure that I and you allso

shall ones dye, and I know that ther is a godd, and he is all

trouthe, and therefor he will grievousely punissh all fallshode,
and that everlastingly. Ye shall here er it be longe some
straunge thinges of the spiritualitie, for betwene theim selfes is
no perfect agrement. Some do saye that thei diggid the diche
that thei be now fallen in, which causith manye goode men
the lass to pitie theim. All other thinges be in the state that

* According to Strype he was consecrated March 30, 1533. See Alem.
of Cranmer, vol. i. p. 26.

» According to Fox, Cranmer went to the Emperor from Rome after the
Earl of Wiltshire, &c. had returned to England in 1530, but according to Strype
his commission bore date Jan, 24, 15313; this, however, was O.S. and should be
1532 .He was succeeded by Hawkins in Oct.1532. See State Pap. vol. vii. p. 386.

=

ἕω λα ely ME oi he

᾿ ὶ ἌΡ.
οὐ ».

ἡπων υ λι λα...

LIFE OF ELYOT. XCV

ye left theim. If ye doo send to me any newes I will recom-
pence you. Oure lord sende you moche honor. And I pray
you have me hartily commended to my lord of Palermo,* the
Duke of Soers® good grace, my lord of Berghes,° and my
lord Molynbayse,* and all my goode lordes, and allsoe to
gentill Master Adrian® and his goode bedfelowe Mastres
Philip, whoes honestie, pacience, and moste gentill entretayne-
ment I cese not to advaunce amonge oure women, as she is
worthy.
‘Writen at London the vi. day of April,
‘Your son and assurid frend,

‘Tu. ELyot, Kt.

A week later Anne Boleyn was publicly acknowledged as
Queen. In 1533 Easter day fell on April 13; and Hall tells
us that ‘On Easter eue she went to her closet openly as Quene,
with all solempnitie ; and then the Kyng appoynted the daie
of her Coronacion to bee kept on Whitson Sundaie’ next
folowyng ; and writynges wer sent to al Shriues to certifie the
names of menne of fourtie pounde to receiue the Ordre of

* This was Jean de Carondelet, who in 1520 had been made Archbishop of
Palermo and Primate of Sicily, and on April 15, 1522, President of the Council
of the Low Countries, See Henne, Hist. du régne de Chas. V. en Belgique, tom.
ii. p. 242, ed. 1858.

» Philippe de Croy, Duc de Soria, Marquis d’Aerschot, was appointed suc-
cessively Chamber ain, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Captain-General of
Hainault by Chas. V. Henne, dz supra, tom. ii. p. 346, note.

e Antoine de Berghes, created Count of Walhain in April 1533, and Marquis
de Berghes in May of the same year. Henne, uz supra, tom. vi. p. 83, note 7.

4 Philippe de Lannoy, Seigneur de Molembais, Grand Master of Artillery
under Charles V., died Sept. 22, 1543. Henne, wz supra, tom. iii. p. 148.

® Possibly Adrien de Croy, created Comte de Reeulx, Feb, 24, 1530. See
Henne, di supra, tom. V. p. 117.

τ Addressed ‘A Monsr. Sr Jehan Haket, Ambassador de le Roy.’ MS.
P. R. O. Cromwell Corresp. vol. x. No, 102,

© June Ist.

XCVIi LIFE OF ELVOT.

knighthod or els to make a fine, the assessement of whiche
fines were appoynted to Thomas Cromwell, Master of the
Kynges Juell house and counsailer to the kyng, and newly in
his high fauour, whiche so pollitikely handeled the matter
that he raised of that sessyng of fines a greate somme of
money to the Kynges use.’* The following letter from Elyot
to Cromwell evidently refers to this measure, and was there-
fore written either in April or May of this year:

‘May it like you, Sir. Uppon the Kinges writt deliverid
me with your lettres for the summonyng of suche as were
able to receyue thordre of Knyghthode, I sent doune into
the contray myn undersherif for the more sure expedition
thereof; who afterward browght unto me a bill of names,
wherein was named one Wawton, whoes substance I knewe
not, and unneth his personage. Finally, according to myn
office I retorned him among other into the Chauncery ; sens
the which tyme diuerse wurshipfull men knowing the saide
Wawton and his substance have to me affirmid precisely on
theire faith that he hath not landes in his possession to the
yerely value of fourty poundes by a grete porcion lakking.
Notwithstanding with his industry in provision for his house-
holde, withoute ferme, grasing of catell, or regrating, he
kepith an honest port, and findeth many sones to skoole,
which by his education be very towardly. And moreover he
hath many dowghters for to sett furth in mariage, which, as ye
well know, be grete corrosives of a litle substance. And
therefor it was well provyded therein by the Statute of
Knyghtes.” Wherfor, in as moche as the gentillman is poure
and abasshfull, but right wise, and having sondry goode
qualities, and accordingly bringith upp many his children,

* Chron. (Hen. VIIZ,) fo. ccx. ed. 1548.
> Stat. de Militibus, 1 Ed. II.

LIFE OF ELYOT. xcvii

may it please you, after speaking with him at your goode
leisour, to shew your gentill hart toward him in declaring how
moche ye tendre the necessitie of poure gentillmen. Whereby
ye shall not onely bynde him to pray for you, but allso
gratifie to many wurshipfull men withoute hindraunce in any
part to the Kinges Highness. I am thus bolde to write to
the intent that I wold not with my presence interrupt your
travaile aboute grett affaires.
‘Your pourest frende,

‘TH. ELYOT, Kt.’*

The gentleman referred to in this letter may possibly be
the same Mr. Wharton ‘a justice of peace in Suffolk,’ who
according to Strype was afterwards employed by Cromwell
‘as his visitor about Suffolk and those parts.’ ἢ

It is evident from this and the preceding letter that Elyot
was in London in the spring of this year. He had, therefore,
an opportunity of seeing Chapuys, the Imperial Ambassador,
and of discussing with him the political outlook. Writing
to the Emperor on May 10, 1533, Chapuys says, ‘The love

_and affection which the English in general bear your Majesty
and the Queen is so very great, that no violence is to be appre-
hended unless the King’s ministers themselves, by false repre-
sentations, stir the people on to disorder, and find an excuse
to arm against your Majesty, thereby depriving the English
of all hope of that goodwill towards them at which, as I
have understood from Ambassador Elyot, they are nowadays
aiming.’ ὃ

One object of Elyot’s residence in London at this time

* MS. P. R. O. Cromwell Corresp. vol. x. no. 57. There is no address to _
this letter, but it is indorsed ‘ Sir Thomas Eliott.’

» See Zecles. Mem, vol, i. pt. i. p. 539, and vol. iii. pt. i. p. 175.
* MS. P. R. Ὁ,

f

XCVili LIFE OF ELYOT.

was probably to be near his printer, Berthelet. For in
this year he published two more works, Pasguil the Playne,
and Of the Knowledge which Maketh a Wise Man. The
former, which is in the form of a dialogue between Pasquil,
Gnatho, and Harpocrates, may have been suggested by a a
little brochure which had appeared, not long before, in Rome,
entitled Dialogus Marphorii et Pasquilli.* This tract had
been sent by Bonner to Cromwell a few months previously.
For the former, writing from Bologna on December 24, 1532,
says, ‘This dialoge bytwen Marforius and Pasquillus, which
of late cam to my handes, I doo send to your Maystership to
laughe, not havyng a better thing as I moche desired.
Your Maystership dothe, I knowe, well remember that great
statua lyeng benethe the Capitole whiche is called Marforius ;,
and as for Mr. Pasquillus ye knowe, I know well.’® Accord-
ing to Castelvetro,a writer of the sixteenth century, ‘ Maestro
Pasquino’ was a tailor in Rome, who, whilst at work, used to
amuse himself by making caustic remarks about the Pope,
the cardinals, priests, ἄς, Hence any scurrilous or ludicrous
saying was, after a time, attributed to Pasquino.° When the
latter died, the torso of an ancient statue was dug up, and
placed near Pasquino’s shop, and lampoons, in the shape of ;
ridiculous questions, were affixed to it, the answers to which :
were suspended in a similar manner from a colossal statue 3
called Marforio. The word fasguinade owes its origin to 3
this custom.

According to Mr. Payne Collier, Pasguil the Playne is
a ‘semi-serious argument on the subject of loquacity and
silence. . . . The question discussed is, when men

* See Pasguillorum Tomi duo, p. 296, ed. 1544.

> State Papers, vol. vii. p. 397.

© Ragioni d alcune cose segnate nella Canzone di Messer Annibal Caro, fo. 141,
ed. 1560.

LIFE OF ELYOT. ΧΟΙ͂Χ

ought, and when they ought not to speak, Gnatho begin-
ning with a quotation on the point from A®schylus.

Gnatho is the advocate of talking, and Harpocrates
of silence, while Pasquil agrees with neither, and through-
out is very plain-spoken in his severe remarks; in fact,
in some places the dialogue assumes the character of a
prose satire. * There is no copy of this curious little book
in the British Museum Library, and we are, therefore, com-
pelled to rely upon works of bibliography for this meagre
account of it. It is styled by Ames ‘a work of considerable
interest as well as rarity,’® but although both he and Mr.
Collier give extracts from the book itself, neither of them has
thought proper to preserve ‘ the prefatory epistle, from which
we should probably have gained more insight into the author's
intention in writing this squib than from half-a-dozen pas-
sages selected at random from the body of the work. It was
reprinted by Berthelet in 1540, and copies of this last edition
are said to have been in the possession of Sir Charles Frede-
rick ὁ and of Mr. Heber.*

With the other work, published by Elyot in 1533, we
are fortunately better acquainted. He tells us in the pre-
face how he came to write it, and to designate it Of the
Knowledge which Maketh a Wise Man. ‘Touchynge the
title of my boke,’ he says, ‘I considered that wisedome is
spoken of moch more than used. For wherin it resteth
fewe menne be sure. The commune opinion is into thre
partis deuided. One sayeth it is in moche lernynge and
knowledge. An other affirmeth that they whiche do con-
ducte the affayres of greatte princis or countrayes be onely

* Bibliograph. Catalogue, vol. i. p. 254, ed. 1865.
>. Typ. Ant,, vol. τὶ, pe 283.
* Surveyor of the Ordnance in 1750.
4 Ames, 772. Ant., vol. iii. p. 307, ed. 1816,
ΓΔ

ς LIFE OF ELYOT.

wyse men. Nay, saythe the thyrde, he is wysest that leste
dothe meddle and can sytte quietly at home and tourne a
crabbe and looke onely unto his owne busynesse. Nowe,
they whiche be of the fyrste oppinion be alwaye at varyance.
For somme doo chiefly extoll the study of holy scripture (as
it is rayson), but while they do wrest it to agree with theyr
willes, ambition, or vayne glory, of the mooste noble and
deuoute lernyuge they doo endeuor them to make hit seruile
and full of contention. Some do preferre the studie of the
lawes of this realme, callynge it the onely studye of the
publyke weale. But a great noumbre of persones whiche
haue consumed in sute more thanne the value of that that
they sued for in theyr angre do cal it a commune detriment.
All thoughe, undoubtedly, the verye selfe lawe trewely prac-
tised passeth the lawes of all other countrayes.’

We can well imagine that this passage reflects Elyot’s
own sentiments, and that whilst smarting from the effects of
the Chancery suit in which he had been involved with the
Fyndernes, he must have been sorely tempted to denounce
the expensive process, by which alone he had maintained his
rights, as a ‘common detriment.’

‘In thinkynge on these sondrye opynyons, he con-
tinues, ‘I happened for my recreacyon to reede in the
booke of Laertius* the lyfe of Plato, and beholdynge the
aunswere that he made to king Dyonyse, at the fyrste
syghte it semed to me to be very dissolute and lackyng
the modestie that belonged to a philosopher, but whan I
had better examined it, therein appered that whiche is
best worthy to be called wysedome. Wherefore to exer-
cyse my wytte and to auoyde idelnes, I toke my penne and

* Diogenes Laertius was the author of a History of Philosophy, The first
complete edition of the Greek text was printed at Basle in this very year, 1533.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cl

_ assayde howe, in expressyng my conceyte, I mought profyte
to them whiche without disdayne or enuye wolde often
tymes reade it. If any man wyll thinke the boke to be
very longe let hym consyder that knowlege of wysedome
can not be shortly declared. All be hit, of them whiche be
well wyllinge it is soone lerned, in good faythe sooner thanne
Primero or Gleeke.* Suche is the straunge propretie of that
excellent counnynge that it is sooner lerned than taught,
and better by a mannes rayson than by an instructour.

‘Finally, if the reders of my warkis by the noble ex-
ample of our mooste dere soueraygne lorde do iustly and
louyngely interprete my labours, I durynge the residue of
my lyfe wyll nowe and than sette forthe suche frutes of my
study, profitable (as I trust) unto this my countray. And
leuynge malycious reders with their incurable fury I wyll
say unto god the wordes of the Catholike Churche in the
boke of Sapience : To knowe the good lorde is perfecte J ustice,
and to knowe thy Justyce and vertue is the very roote of
Immortalite ;® and therin is the knowlege that is very wyse-
dome,’

The book takes the form of a dialogue between Plato
and Aristippus, who discuss wisdom, the soul, knowledge,
ignorance, kings, tyrants, &c. it being supposed that
Plato had been sent for by King Dionysus that the latter
might be instructed in philosophy. But the tyrant, prov-
ing ungrateful, instead of giving the philosopher thanks
was greatly displeased with him. Elyot evidently foresaw
that this dialogue, as well as that of Pasguz/, might not be
taken in good part by some who would suppose that his
remarks were addressed to themselves, For he disclaims

* These were games of cards played by three and four persons respectively.
> Wisdom, xv. 3.

cil LIFE OF ELYOT.:

the notion of intending to allude to any particular person.
If the cap fitted, he could not help it. ‘For my parte,’ he
says, ‘I eftesones do protest that in no boke of mi making
I haue intended to touche more one manne than an nother.
For there be Gnathos in Spayne as wel as in Grece, Pas-
quilles in Englande as welle as in Rome, Dionises in
Germanye as welle as in Sicile, Harpocrates in France as
wel as in Aégipt, Aristippus in Scotlande as well as in
Cyrena. Platos be fewe, and them I doubte where to fynde.
And if men wyll seke for them in Englande whiche I sette in
other places I can nat lette them. I knowe well ynowghe
dyuers do delyte to have theyr garmentes of the facion of
other countreyes, and that whiche is mooste playne is un-
plesant, but yet it doth happen sometyme that one man
beynge in auctorytie or fauour of his prince beinge sene to
weare somme thing of the old facion, for the straungenes
therof it is taken up ageine with many good felowes. What
I doo meane euery wyse man perceyuethe.’

At the end of 1533 we have the following letter from
Elyot to the Lady Lisle, who had accompanied her husband
to Calais in June of this year :—

‘My syngulere goode lady, in moste humble manner I
recommend me unto your goode ladisship. And where, by
the reporte of your servaunt, Thomas Raynsforde, I perceyve
that he hathe founden you allway his speciall goode lady, I,
in the numbre of his frendes, doo moste hartily thank you.
And for the experience that I have hitherto founde in him
and all his bretherne concerning theire loyaltie and assurid
honestie, I am movid to desyre your ladiship hartily to con-
tinue his goode lady, according as I doubt not but that ye
shall finde his merites in doing his service and duetie unto-
my goode lorde and your ladishipp. All be it for as moche

LIFE OF ELYOT. Cili

as I consydere that he hath to moche delyted in dysing,
whereby he hath ben an ill husbonde in provyding for that
which mowght now honestly fournissh him in serving my
lorde and you, and as it seemith he now moche repentith
with other losse of tyme, recounting to me how moche he is
bounden to your ladisship for your honorable and moste
gentill advertisementes, I, as one of his poure frendes, and
allso in the name and at the request of his bretherne,
specially Mr. Raynsford, gentillman huissher, my longe
approved frende, doo humbly desyre youre ladisship to
poursue your honorable and moste charitable favour toward
your sayde servaunt. And in doing his diligent and true
service to my lord and you, on my parte, I beseche your
ladisship to recommend him unto my lordes good remem-
braunce for his advauncement. And, as your ladisship have
doone, whan ye shall perceyve any lakk in him touching his
service or excess in gamyng, of your goodness and wisedom
withdraw him with your sharpe admonicion and commaund-
ment, which I perceyve he doeth moche esteme and dreade.
And so doing, besydes that his father and bretherne shall
be bounden to pray for you, I shall on my behalf moste
humbly thank you with my poure service. Our Lorde sende
my goode lorde and you longe life in moche honour.
‘Writen at London, the iii day of Decembre.
‘At your commaundment,

CTH, ‘ELVOT, Kei"

The lady to whom the above letter was addressed was
Honor, the second wife of Arthur Plantagenet, a natural son
of Edward IV., who was created Viscount Lisle, by letters

* MS. P.R.O. Chapter House Lisle Papers, vol. x. no. 96. The letter is

addressed ‘* To the right honorable and my singuler goode lady My lady
Lisles goode Ladisshipp.”

Civ LIFE OF ELYOT.

patent, dated April 25, 1523,° and had quite recently been
appointed Deputy of Calais, in succession to Lord Berners.”
Lady Lisle, who was the daughter of Sir Thomas Granville,
had been previously married to Sir John Basset,° of Umber-
leigh, near Barnstaple, and may, therefore, by her first
marriage have been connected with the family of Elyot.

Our author seems now to have occupied himself entirely
with that ‘ quiet study’ which he had told his friend Crom-
well he desired more than anything a king could give him.
In 1534, no less than three separate treatises from his pen
were published by Berthelet, in addition to a reprint of his
last work. These consisted of a translation of a sermon of
Saint Cyprian, another of an oration of Isocrates, and a
medical treatise of still greater importance, entitled Zhe
Castel of Helth. With the first of these, of which the full
title is A swete and devoute Sermon of Holy saynt Ciprian
of Mortalitte of Man, the author joined The Rules of a
Christian lyfe made by Picus erle of Mirandula. The sermon
on mortality had been originally written by the Bishop of
Carthage for the consolation of the faithful during a fright-
ful pestilence which devastated Africa in the third century.
Sir Thomas Elyot had probably perused this sermon in the
folio edition of the works of the father lately published at
Basle, by Erasmus. John Picus, of Mirandola, whose famous
challenge to the world in 1486 to dispute his nine-hundred
propositions had rendered him one of the most remarkable
men of the age, during the few last years of his short life
had devoted himself entirely to the study of the Scriptures.
Amongst many other more elaborate works he composed

* Lett, and Pap. Hen, VIII., vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 1259.
> Rymer, Fed., vol. xiv. p. 452.
* Collins, Peerage, vol. viii. p. 503, ed. 1812.

LIFE OF ELYOT. CV

some short rules for the guidance of those who would lead a
spiritual life, which in the original Latin are styled Regule
duodecim partim excitantes partim dirigentes hominem in
pugnd spiritualt.* It was an English version of these Rules
which Sir Thomas Elyot appended to his translation of the
sermon of Saint Cyprian. The two together forming a tiny
volume of 64 pages, exclusive of the preface, were published
on July 1, 1534. This work Elyot dedicated to the lady who
has been already mentioned, the widow of John Kingstone
the younger, and who, as the inscription on her monument
informs us, had become a ‘ vowess.’ Whilst telling her that
he sends it as a token ‘that ye shall perceyue that I doo
not forgeat you, and that I doo unfaynedly loue you, not
onely for our allyaunce, but also moche more for your per-
seuerance in vertu and warkes of true faith, he prays her ‘to
communicate it with our two susters religiouse Dorothe and
Alianour.’ Of these last Dorothy was the daughter of Sir
John Danvers, and widow of young John Fetiplace,” of
East Shefford, who died in 1524, and is buried in the church
there,° whilst ‘ Alianour’ was, no doubt, the ‘daughter-in-law’
Eleanor, daughter of Richard Fetiplace, mentioned in the
will of Sir Richard Elyot, and to whom he left a legacy of
an annual sum ‘till she be professed in religion.’

The full title of the other translation published by Elyot
this year is Zhe Doctrinal of Princes made by the noble oratour
Isocrates, and translated out of Greke in to Englishe by Syr
Thomas Elyot, knight. ‘This is an English version of the ora-
tion to Nicocles, of which several foreign editions had already
been published. The Greek text of all the orations had been

* Niceron, Hom, 71]. tom, xxxiv, p. 142.
» Clarke, Par. Top. of Wanting, p. 68.
* Lysons, Berkshire, p. 360.

evi LIFE OF ELYOT.

published for the first time at Milan, in 1493, but the orations
to Demonicus and Nicocles were published separately at
Paris in 1508, at Strasbourg in 1515, at Louvain in 1522, and
at Paris again in 1529. In the Preface. Elyot informs his
readers that he had translated the oration out of Greek ‘not
presumyng to contende with theim whiche haue doone the
same in latine, but to thintent onely that I wolde assaie if
our Englisshe tunge mought receive the quicke and propre
sentences pronounced by the greekes. And in this experi-
ence I have founde (if I be not muche deceiued) that the
forme of speakyng used of the Greekes, called in greeke
and also in latine Phrasts, muche nere approcheth to that
whiche at this daie we use than the order of the latine tunge,
I meane in the sentences and not in the wordes: whiche I
doubte not shall be affirmed by them who sufficiently in-
structed in all the saide three tunges shall with a good
iudgement read this worke.’ He then proceeds to tell us
his object in publishing this translation, which was ‘to the
intent that thei which do not understande greeke nor latine
shoulde not lacke the commoditee and pleasure whiche maie
be taken in readyng therof.’ And he announces his inten-
tion to devote the rest of his life to literary work if the
reception accorded to the present volume should encourage
him to do so. ‘If I shall perceiue you to take this myne
enterprise thankefully, I shall that little porcion of life whiche
remeineth, (God sendyng me quietnesse of minde), bestowe
in preparing for you such bookes in the readyng wherof ye
shall finde bothe honest passe tyme and also profitable
counsaile and lernyng.’

The last of the three new works published by Elyot
in 1534, was The Castel of Helth, No copy of this edi-
tion is to be found in the Library of the British Museum,

LIFE OF ELVOT. ον!

and we may, therefore, not unreasonably presume that
copies of this year are extremely scarce. According to
Ames, who must have seen one, the dedication was to
‘Thomas, Lord Cromwell.’ Now, as Cromwell was not
created a baron before July 10, 1536,” there must be some
error in Ames’s description. For we cannot agree with
Dibdin, that ‘the date must be a mistake,’ nor with Herbert
that ‘such date is to be considered only as an appendage
to the wood-cut border of the title.’* It is true, no doubt,
that in many cases the title-pages to the later editions were
printed from old wood blocks, and that where a double date
is given that which appears in the space contained within
the printed border must be assumed to indicate the date
of publication of that particular edition. But where only
one date is given, and that oz the ornamental border itself,
as in this case, there seems to be no adequate’ reason for
supposing that this does not really indicate the true date.
It is, at any rate, easier to suppose that Ames himself was
mistaken, or that the copy which he saw and described really
belonged to an edition of 1536, than to assume that the
date 1534 does not in fact indicate the date of first publica-
tion. At any rate, it is rather strange that in a copy of
this work in the Grenville Library the same date, 1534, ap-
pears on the border of an edition which was certainly pub-
lished in 1541, the latter date having been added to the title ;
whilst in another copy, in the British Museum, in which the
same date has been added to the title, the space usually
occupied by the date on the ornamental border is left blank.-
One can hardly suppose that unless the date on the orna-
mental border really indicated the year of first publication

* Typog. Ant., p. 168, ed. 1749. > Stow, Annales, p. 572.
* Ames, 7ypog. Ant, vol. iii. p, 288, ed. 1816.

CVili LIFE OF ELYOT.

of the work the printer would be so careless as to employ
the same wood block for a later edition without erasing the
misleading figures.

The Castel of Helth, as its name implies, is a medi-
cal treatise. We have already seen that Elyot, partly,
perhaps, from natural inclination, and_ still more, probably,
from his intimacy with Linacre, whilst yet quite a young
man, had turned his attention to the study of medi-
cine, and had perused the voluminous tomes, not only of
the Greek but of the Oriental writers on the art of heal-
ing. In England the practise of that art had hitherto been
confined, for the most part, to ecclesiastics, who substituted
superstition for science, and empiricism for observation.
With the revival of classical learning it was at once seen
by men like Linacre and Elyot, that the knowledge of Greek
would rescue medicine from the hands of the ignorant, and
restore it to the dignity of a science. The establishment of
the College of Physicians is no less a monument to the
enlightened views of its Royal founder than to the sagacity
of its first President. In writing a medical treatise Elyot
evidently designed to impart, so far as he was able, a know-
ledge of this hitherto occult science to the laity. His object,
as in all his other works, was a purely disinterested one, not
the hope of temporal reward, but as he himself tells us ‘ only
for the feruent affection whiche I have euer borne toward the
publike weale of my countrie.’ Having himself suffered, as
he has already told us,* from various disorders, he was moved
with pity for the thousands of helpless patients whom he saw
around him on every side. ‘The intent of my labour,’ he tells
us, ‘was that men and women readyng this worke and obser-

uyng the counsayles therin should adapte therby their bodies

* See ante p. lvii.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cix

to receiue more sure remedie by the medicines prepared by
good physicions in dangerous sicknesses, thei kepyng good
diete, and infourmyng diligently the same physicions of the
maner of their affectes, passions, and sensible tokens. And so
shall the noble and moste necessarie science of phisicke, with
the ministers therof, escape the sclaunder whiche they haue of
long tyme susteyned.’ ὃ

The book, as already stated, appears to have been dedi-
cated to Cromwell, and the following letter no doubt accom-
panied a presentation copy.

‘After moste harty recomendations. Sir, I have sent to
you by the bringer hereof a litle treatise, which in exchuyng
idleness, for the comfort of my self and other of equall debilitie,
I late made. Wherin if ye finding sufficient leisour (as it will
be hard for you to doo) and will spende a fewe houres I doubt
not but that your goode witt shall finde more frute than ye
wolde have looking for of any thinge that sholde have passid
from my folissh hedd. But (as the olde greeke proverbe is)
it is sometyme goode to here the pour gardyner.” In this
warke I have done no thing but onely browght to mennes re
membraunce that which naturall raison hath towght theim ;
and that withoute desyre of reward or glory. For according to
your voise and frendely aunswere unto me I can not compelle
men to esteme me as I wolde that thei sholde, that is (as I
saye) benevolent unto my contraye and faithfull unto him
that will trust me. For no thinge els goode is therein me. Yet
myne indevor shall be never the lasse to sett furth in some
wise that litle portion of knowlege which I have receyved of
godd by the meane of study and some experience, which I
suppose mowght be profitable to them which will reade or

* The Castell of Helth, fo. 90, ed. 1541.

Ὁ Probably Sir T. Elyot refers to the following proverb ᾿Αγροίκου μὴ καταφρό-
vet ῥήτορος. See Guisford’s Paramiog. p. 231, ed. 1836.

ΟΧ LIFE OF ELYOT.

heere it. The mater contayned in this booke is of suche im-
portance that it requireth a quyete lesson and a pregnant
iugement with allso a stable remembrance; to the help wherof I
have of pourpose usid often repetitions, whereby the matere
seemyth the lenger ; but being radd diligently and well concoct
to theim in whome is any aptness to receyue goode counsayle
it will not seeme very tediouse. As it is I pray you take it
in goode part, and after your olde gentill manere defend your
frende in his true meaning agayne theim whoes myndes have
suche a fever contynuall that every goode counsaile is in
theire taste unsavery and bitter. And if it shall please you
to recommend one of theise bookes unto the Kinges highness
when ye shall fynde thereunto oportunitie, I conforme me to
your pleasure, sens this is the last Englissh booke which I
pourpose ever to make, onelass the desyre of some speciall
frende doo compelle me. Notwithstanding if I may in this
povertie be suffrid to lyve in quyeteness I trust to be so oc-
cupyed as neither godd nor honest man shall have cause to
blame me for consumyng my tyme. Our lorde send you longe
life with moche worship.
‘Yours to my litle powar,
‘TH. ΝΟΥΣ Kt.’*

We are enabled to fix the year of this letter by the ad-
dress, in which Cromwell is designated as ‘Treasurer of the
King’s Jewels.’ He is so described ina letter from Sir William
Paget, dated Hamburgh, Feb. 22, 1534.”

It was perhaps natural that the medical profession should
resent the publication of a book which threatened not only to

* Harleian MSS., 6989, no. 21. The letter is addressed ‘To my special.y
assurid frende Mr. Cromewell, treasorer of the Kinges Jewelles.’

» See State Papers, vol. vii. p. 542. He must have held this office two years,
for his patent of appointment is dated April 14, 1532. See Foss, Judges of Eng-
land, vol. v. p. 148.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cxi

expose the ignorance of those who assumed to be in exclu-
sive possession of the secrets of the art of healing but to de-
stroy the monopoly which they had hitherto enjoyed. ‘A
worthy matter, said one of these indignant professors, ‘ Syr
Thomas Elyot is become a phisicion and writeth in phisicke,
whiche besemeth not a knight ; he mought have ben muche
better occupied.’ But in a later edition Elyot gave a most
complete answer to his opponents, beating them with their
own weapons. ‘Truely,’ he said, ‘if they wyll call hym a
phisicion whiche is studiouse about the weale of his countrey,
I wytsaufe* thei so name me, for duryng my life I wyll in
that affection alwaie continue. And why, I pray you, should
men haue in disdaine or small reputacion the science of phi-
sike2 Which beyng well understand, truely experienced, and
discretely ordred, doth conserue helth, without the whiche all
pleasures be peynefull, rychesse unprofitable, company annoy-
ance, strength turned to febleness, beauty to lothsomnes,
sences are dispersed, eloquence interrupted, remembraunce
confounded. . . . It seemeth that physicke in this realme
hath been well esteemed, sens the hole studie of Salern at the
request of a kyng of England wrate and set foorthe a com-
pendious and profitable treatise called The Gouernance of
health, in latine, Regimen Sanitatis.” And I trust in almightie
God that our soueraigne lorde the Kynges maiestee, who
daiely prepareth to stablisshe among us true and uncorrupted
doctrines, will shortly examine also this part of studie in suche

* Ze. vouchsafe, of which the word in the text is the primitive form.

> This was a poem in Latin hexameters composed for Robert Duke of Nor-
mandy, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, at the end of the eleventh cen-
tury, by the celebrated School of Medicine at Salerno. It was so popular that it
is said above 160 editions were published. English translations of a prose com-
mentary by Arnaldus de Villa Nova were printed by Berthelet in August 1528,
February 1530, and 1535, and it is curious that the wood block used for the title-
page is the same as that for Elyot’s book.

cxii LIFE OF ELVOT.

wyse as thynges apt for medicine growyng in this realme by
conference with most noble authors may be so knowen that
we shal haue lesse nede of thynges brought out of farre coun-
treis, by the corrupcion wherof innumerable people haue per-
ished without blame to be geuen to the physicions, sauyng
onely that some of them not diligent inough in beholdyng
their drugges or ingredience at all tymes dispensed and tried.
. . . This well considered I take it for no shame to studie
that science, or to set foorth any bokes of the same, beyng
thereto prouoked by the moste noble and vertuous exaumple
of my moste noble maister Kyng Henrie the VIII. whose
helth I hertily pray god as long to preserue as god hath con-
stitute mans life to continue, for his highnesse’ hath not dis-
deined to be the chiefe author and setter foorth of an Intro-
duction into grammer for the children of his louyng subiectes,
whereby hauyng good maysters thei shall most easily and in
short time apprehend the understandyng and forme of speak-
yng of true and eloquent latine.* O roiall hert full of very

5. This evidently refers to a book entitled Ax Jntroduction of the eyght partes of
speche and the construction of the same, compiled and sette forthe by the commaunde-
ment of our most gracious souerayne lorde the King, A.D. 1542. This date seems
to be confirmed by the Address ‘to the Reder,’ which ends as follows, ‘ Let noble
prynce Edwarde encourage your tender hartes, a prynce of greate towardnes, a
prynce in whome god hath powred his graces abundantly, a prynce framed of suche
perfectnes of nature that he is lyke, by the grace of God, to ensue tlie steppes of his —
fathers wysedome, lernynge and vertue, and is nowe almost in a redynesse to
rounne in the same rase of lernyng with you. For whom ye haue great cause to
praye that he may be the soonne of a longe lyuyng father.’ Now the Prince of
Wales was not born till Oct. 12, 1537, and therefore was five years old at the
time of this edition. The copy in the British Museum is printed on vellum and
illuminated, and is evidently the same as that mentioned by Ames, who, however,
is mistaken in saying that the date is 1543. It is obvious, however, that the pub-
lication preceded that of the edition of the Caste// of Helth from which we are
quoting, viz. 1541. There may therefore have been a previous edition. It is
curious that Ames mentions 7%e Justruction of a christen man by order of King
Hen. VI/J. as printed in 1537, and Herbert, ‘ Certain brief Rules of the regiment or
construction of the eight parts of speche in English and Latin, in the same year, and

LIFE OF ELYOT. CXiil

nobilitee. O noble breast settyng foorth vertuous doctrine
and laudable studie. But yet one thyng muche greueth me,
that notwithstandyng I haue euer honoured and specially
fauoured the reuerend colledge of approued phisicions, yet
some of them heryng me spoken of haue saied in derision,
that although I were pretily seen in hystories, yet beyng not
lerned in physicke I haue put in my booke diuers errours in
presumyng to write of herbes and medicines, First as con-
cernyng hystories as I haue planted them in my workes,
beyng wel understand they be not so light of importance as
they dooe esteme them, but may more surely cure mens affec-
tions then diuers physicions do cure maladies. Nor whan I
wrate first this boke I was not all ignoraunt in physicke.
And although I haue neuer been at Mountpellier, Padua, nor
Salern, yet haue I found some thyng in phisicke wherby I
haue taken no littell profite concernyng myne owne helth.
Moreouer I wote not why Physicions should. be angrie with
me, sens I wrate and did set forth the Castell of Helth for their
commoditee, that the uncertayne tokens of urines and other
excrementes should not deceiue them, but that by the true
informacion of the sicke man by me instructed they might be
the more sure to prepare medicines conuenient for the dis-

-eases, Also to the intent that men, obseruyng a good order

in diete and preuentyng the great causes of sicknesse, they
should of those maladies the soner be cured. But if physi-
cions be angry that I haue written physicke in englishe, let
them remember that the grekes wrate in greke, the Romains
in latin, Auicenna and the other in Arabike, whiche were their
one or both of these may be an earlier edition of The Zntroduction. The copy in
the B. M. is followed by ‘Institutio Compendiaria totius grammatice quam et
eruditissimus atque idem illustrissimus Rex noster hoc nomine evulgari jussit, ut
non alia quam hc una per totam Angliam pueris preelegeretur, Londini, a.p.
1542.’
Ξ

οχὶν LIFE OF ELYOT,

own proper and maternall tongues. And if thei had been as
muche attached with enuie and couetise as some nowe seeme
to be, they would haue deuised some particuler language with
a strange cypher or forme of letters wherin they wold haue
written their scyence, whiche language or letters no manne
should haue knowen that had not professed and practised
physicke. But those, although they were Paynims and Jewes,
in this part of charitee they farre surmounted us christians,
that they would not haue so necessarie a knowlage as phy-
sicke is to be hidde from theim whiche would be studiouse
about it. Finally God is my iudge I write neyther for glorie,
rewarde nor promocion, onely I desire men to deeme well
mine intent, sens I dare assure them that all that I haue writ-
ten in this boke I haue gathered of the most principall writers
in physicke. Whiche beyng throughly studied and wel re-
membred shall be profitable (I doubt not) unto the reader,
and nothyng noyouse to honest physicions that dooe measure
their studie with moderate liuyng and christen charitee.’

The Castel of Helth soon became a very popular book,
notwithstanding the depreciatory remarks of the faculty. Ac-
cording to Lowndes, it was reprinted no less than ten times,
the last edition being that of 1595, and there were probably
two other editions without date.

In addition to these three new productions of Elyot’s pen,
another edition of Zhe Governour was issued by Berthelet in
1534.2 It is extremely difficult to ascertain precisely in what
years these various editions came from the press, on account
of the practice adopted by Berthelet of employing the old
woodblocks for title-pages. There are two copies, for instance,
of The Castel of Helthin the British Museum Library, varying

* Ames, 7ypfog. Ant., vol. iii. p. 289, note, ed, 1816,

LIFE OF ELYOT, CXV

in size and type but both bearing the same date, viz. 1541.*
It is probable, however, that the larger of these two is really
a re-issue of the first edition.

It may be doubted whether even this list exhausts
the whole number of the works which Elyot gave to the
world in this year. For it seems extremely probable that
The Bankette of Saptence was published for the first time
in 1534. According to Lowndes, an edition of 1542 is
‘the earliest known edition,’ but in this he is clearly mis-
taken, for in the British Museum there is a copy printed by
Berthelet in 1539, that being the date given in the colophon.
The date on the ornamental border of the title-page, how-
ever, which is precisely the same as that of the smaller copy
of The Castel of Helth (1541) is 1534, and for the reasons
given above it seems fair to assume that the latter date refers
to the year in which 7he Bankette of Sapience was first pub-
lished. This work consists of a collection of moral sayings
or sentences from various authors but chiefly from the fathers.
It was dedicated to the King, and appears from ‘the prologue;
to have been published in the spring of the year. It was re-
printed in 1542, and 1545, and again after the author’s death
in 1557 and 1563.

On October 8, 1534, Thomas Cromwell was appointed
Master of the Rolls, being the first layman who had ever
been advanced to that office.” His immediate predecessor
was Dr. John Taylor, a clergyman whose nephew, as already
stated, had succeeded Elyot as Clerk of Assize. The
following summer Cromwell commenced his visitation of .
the religious houses. ‘The last year,’ says Strype, ‘the Par-
liament had, for the augmentation of the King’s royal estate,

* See Ames, dz supra, p. 316.
See Foss, Judges of England, vol. v. p. 146.
g2

CXVi LIFE OF ELVOT.

given him the first-fruits of all spiritual livings throughout the
realm and the tenths.* For the better execution of this Act
the King sent abroad his Commissioners to take the true
value of the benefices through the whole land ; several Com-
missioners for each county. There was also a certain number
of auditors joined with them. . . . When the valuations were
made and taken by the Commissioners they were all returned
to Crumwel now Master of thé Rolls.’ ” From the following
letter it is evident that Sir Thomas Elyot was employed on
this Commission :—

‘With most humble recomendations. Sir, wher it likid you
at my last being with you at the Rolles to ministre unto me
moste gentill wordes to my grete comfort, I have often tymes
sens revolved theim in my remembraunce setting in you onely
all my hole confidence and so doo persist. Where late I have
travaylid aboute the survaying of certayne monasteries by the
Kinges commaundment, wher in my paynes shold appiere not
unthankfull if opportunitie mowght happen for me to declare
it. If now, Sir, it mought like you in approvyng your bene-
volent mynde toward me, wherein I doo specially trust, to sett
furth with your gentill report unto the Kinges highness my
true hart and diligent indevour in his graces service, to my
importable charges and unrecuperable decay of my lyving,
onlas his highness relieve me with his abundaunt and gra-
ciouse liberalitie; and therwith it mowght please you to
devise with his highness for my convenient recompence to-
ward my sayde charges either by landes now suppressid or
pencion, I shall not onely take comfort of your approved
fidelitie and the same advaunce unto your honour, but allso in
suche wise ordre me toward you as ye shall deeme me not

* By 26 Hen, VIII. cap. 3.
» Eccles. Mem., vol. i. pt. i. p. 325.

LIFE OF ELYOT. -exvii

unworthy your gentill remembraunce and benefite ; putting
you in this assuraunce that never may have founden or shall
fynde me ingrate or unthankfull. I wold awaytid on you as
my duetie hadd ben, but that I dradd to fynde you occupied
with grete affayres, which of late hath causid me to make
many vayne journayes whan I have ben right desyrouse to
see [you], not for my necessitie onely but to have communi-
cate with you some tokens of harty frendship. If it be your
pleasure that I shall attend on you at the Court to revyve
your gentill remembraunce, I, that knowing, shall folow your
commaundment and counsaile, godd willing, who send to you
his grace with long contynuance in honour.
‘Yours with true affection,
‘TH. ELYOT, Kt.’*

This letter was probably written in the autumn of 1534 or
the spring of 1535. It must certainly have been written
prior to the month of July in the latter year. Sir Thomas
More was executed on July 6,1535. And we know that
Elyot was out of England when that event happened. The
tradition that the news was communicated to him for the first
time by the Emperor himself rests on too high an authority
to be rejected. On his return from the siege of Tunis, Charles
landed in Sicily, August 22, 1535, and after staying some time
at Palermo made his entry into Messina on October 21. He
arrived in Naples on November 25, and remained there about
four months.” It was perhaps whilst the Emperor was resi-
dent in this city that the following incident occurred. ‘ Soone
after Mores death came intelligence thereof to the Emperor

"MS. P.R.O. Cromwell Corresp., vol. x. no. 58. The letter is addressed
“Τὸ the right honorable Mr Secretary.’

» See Pap, d'état du Card. de Granvelle, ‘om, ii, p. 387 note, and p. 413
note,

CXVIii LIFE OF ELYOT.

Charles, whereuppon he sent for Sir Thomas Eliott, our
Eenglish Embassodor and sayd unto him, “My Lord Embas-
sodor, wee understand that the Kinge your Master hath putt
his faythfull servaunt and grave wise Councellor Sir Thomas
Moore to death.” Whereunto Sir Thomas Eliott aunsweared
that hee understood nothinge thereof. “ Well,” sayd the Em-
peror, “it is verye true, and this will we saye, that if wee had
bine Mr. of such a servaunt, of whose doinges our selves have
had these many yeares noe small experience, wee would rather
have lost the best Cittie of our dominiones then have lost
such a worthie Councellor. Now this story is related by
William Roper, Sir Thomas More’s own son-in-law, who
adds :—‘ Which matter was bye Sir Thomas Eliott to my
selfe, to my wife, to Mr. Clement and his wife, to Mr. John
Haywood and his wife, and divers others of his frends accord-
ingely reported.’ ὃ

Stapleton, who was born in the very year that More died,
had evidently heard the same account probably from some
member of the family, for he says, ‘Illud postremo loco
ponam, quod a fide dignis accepi, nobilissimum in hac causa et
sempiterna memorid dignum testimonium. Carolus V. Im-
perator, princeps non minus judicio acer quam bello fortis et
felix, audita Roffensis et Mori nece, Thome Elioto tunc
Henrici apud eum legato hec verba dixit. “Ego, si in meis
regnis duo hujusmodi lumina haberem, quamlibet munitissi-
mam civitatem potius periclitari sinerem, quam me illis pri-
vari, nedum injuste tolli permitterem.” Hee ille. Prastan-
tissimi Principis preeclarum elogium fuit”® Substantially the
same version is also given by the writer (supposed to be
Nicholas Harpsfield) of another Life of More which still re-

* Roper, Vita Mort, p. 58, ed. Hearne 1716.
» Tres Thoma, p. 359, ed. 1588.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cxix

mains in MS. in the Lambeth Library,* by the anonymous
author of the Life printed by Dr. Wordsworth,® and by Thomas
More, the great grandson of the Chancellor, in a work which
Wood describes as ‘incomparably well written. ° It is ob-
vious, however, that none of these except, perhaps, the last
mentioned can pretend to so much authority as the two from
which we have quoted.

It appears at first sight remarkable that no allusion is
made by Elyot himself to this incident, neither in any work
published after this date nor in any letter at present discovered.
And in fact but for Roper’s statement there would, so far as
the Editor has been able to ascertain, be no ground for assert-
ing positively that Elyot was employed as Ambassador or
even absent from England at this period. Roper’s statement,
however, which in itself is too precise to be disputed, is indi-
rectly confirmed by the following circumstances,

We have seen already that Elyot, when employed as
Ambassador in the Low Countries, had complained to
Vaughan that his letters remained unanswered and that he
was left without instructions from England, a complaint
which Vaughan had forwarded to Cromwell. It would seem
that Elyot experienced similar treatment on this second mis-
sion and was left to hear the news of More’s death, not from
the King or Cromwell, but from the Emperor to whose Court
he was accredited. Now, curiously enough, we have a letter
from the latter to his Ambassador in France,‘ written from
Naples in January, 1536, in which occurs the following pas-

* See Wordsworth, Zecles, Biog., vol. ii. p. 45.

> Jbid. p. 179.

© See Wood’s Ath. Oxon. vol. i. col. 87, ed. 1813.

4 Jean Hannaert, Vicomte de Lombeke. See Henne, Hist. du rdgne de
Chas. V. tom. v. p. 118,

CXX EIFE OF ELYOT.

sage, showing that the English Ambassador (presumably
Elyot) was then placed in such a predicament. ‘ Depuis ce
que dessus, nous avons receu voz lectres des xv et xvi de ce
mois, et nous desplait extrémement des nouvelles du trespas
de la royne d’Angleterre, nostre tante,* dont pour ce que n’en
avons encoires la certitude de nostre ambassadeur estant
audit Angleterre, et que celluy dudit Angleterre résident de-
vers nous n’en a nulles lectres de son maistre, ne l’avons voulsu
tenir pour certain, comme chose que créons mal voluntiers et
de trés-grand déplésir.’” We have also the fact to be referred
to more at length presently that Elyot himself alludes in a
work published some years after this period to his having
borrowed a book from ‘a gentleman of Naples.” Now
this may very well have taken place at the time when
he was himself resident at Naples, in the autumn of 1535,
as the accredited Ambassador to the Emperor. As for the
absence of any written or printed account by Elyot himself
of his conversation with the Emperor, it is easier to under-
stand the omission when we read the instructions given by
Cromwell to the English Ambassador at the Court of France,°
and remember that Henry ‘was greatly nettled’ when in-
formed of the conversation between Francis and Sir John
Wallop under circumstances precisely similar to those detailed
by Roper with regard to Elyot and Charles.¢

But conceding the truth of Roper’s story, the question re-
mains yet to be answered, Where was Elyot if he was not in
England in July 1535? Charles sailed from Barcelona on his
African expedition on May 30. - He certainly had an English
Ambassador in his suite, for in a letter written by the Em-

* Catharine of Aragon died on Jan. 8, 1536.

>» Pap. @ état du Card. de Granvelle, tom. ii. p. 429, ed. 1841.
See Strype, Zccles Mem., vol. i. pt. 2. p. 247.

4 /bid, vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 360.

LIFE OF ELYOT. - ΟΧΧΙῚ

peror as he was on the point of sailing, he says, ‘Ledit
Ambassadeur de France a parsisté de nous suyvir en ce voy-
age, aprés qu'il eust tenu propos de soy retirer, et que aultre
venoit en son lieu; et pour ce ne luy avoit esté pourveu de
galcres, supposant que luy et aultres ambassadeurs suyvans
nostre court yroient en naves; et sur ce qu'il a parsisté a
ladite galére, en avons ordonné une pour luy et l’ambassadeur
d’ Angleterre et celluy du marquis de Saluces,* avec aucungs
gentilshommes de nostre maison, pour gaigner place, selon le
grand nombre de gens que menons.’” The French Ambas-
sador was the Sieur de Vély who, as we have already seen,
was in Elyot’s company at Ratisbon in 1532. Now whoever
the English Ambassador may have been, it is certain that he
and de Vély were thrown a great deal together and were on
the best possible terms during the voyage and subsequent opera-
tions. ‘This is clearly shown by the following passage in the
Emperor’s letter, written from Messina to his Ambassador in
France, in the following October. ‘En oultre, nous avons veu
ce qu’avez escript au 57 de Granvelle touchant ce que ledit
Θ᾽ de Vély, ambassadeur dudit 57 roy, a escript par dela, de
la naviere en laquelle il est allé durant nostre voiage de
Thunes, et mesmes touchant ce que luy fut dit lorsque étions
au camp devant la Goulette, et de la compaignie que luy fut
baillée en ladite naviere de l’escuyer Vandenesse et Anthoine
de Bedia, que nous sembla estre pour le mieulx, pour les con-
sidérations que le S™ de Granvelle dit de nostre part audit S?
de Vély, non pas pour le tenir estroitement, comme il dit,
mais pour sa plus grande commodité, et aussi afin qu'il ne luy
advint quelque inconvénient, et davantaige que, a la vérité,
ledit ambassadeur se démonstroit par trop curieulx d’assentir

* Francois, Marquis de Saluces, or Saluzzo, a town in the Vaudois.
» Pap. @ état du Card, de Granvelle, tom. ii. p. 359.

CXXil LIFE OF ELYOT.

et enquérir nouvelles, et alloient aucungs de ses gens par le
camp, voire armez, et se trouvoient souvent aucungs d’eulx en
nostre tente et a l’encontre d’icelle et d’aultres de nostredit
conseil, suspectement et 4 mensongiéres occasions. Et si
avons entendu que ledit ambassadeur a escript plusieurs nou-
velles non vrayes, que sont esté publiées au cousté d’Angle-
terre et aillieurs: et entre aultres choses a esté trop curieulx
ἃ luy, et aussi au S* de Vaugy, d’avoir faict faire et pourter
par dela la platte-forme de la fortisfication de ladite Goulette,
comme l’escripvez. Toutesfois, n’est besoing que en faictes
semblant, et souffit qu’en soiez adverty pour, 511 survenoit
quelques aultres advertissemens que ledit ambassadeur pour-
roit faire; et que ledit ambassadeur et son cousin sont ex-
trémement curieulx de veoir, scavoir et entendre tout ce que
passe en ceste court, et fort véhémentement ; et au regard
d’avoir tenu a ses gaiges ladite naviere, ledit ambassadeur
s'est de ce advancé, car elle a tousjours esté ἃ nostre soulde,
et ce nonobstant, au commandement dudit ambassadeur; et
est bien vray que jusques au désembarquement en ladite
Goulette, y eust quelques gens de guerre beaulcoup plus que
en d’aultres, mais au retour n’y en a point eu, et a esté ledit
ambassadeur trés-bien traicté, et mieulx que nul des autres,
tant de galeres que de batteaulx, et en a eu trés-grand con-
tentement, et l’a mercié souvent l’ambassadeur d’Angleterre,
que tousjours a esté avec ledit S" de Vély.”* It seems from
this that de Vély had proved rather troublesome on account
of his inquisitiveness, and had been the means of disseminat-
ing false information about the Emperor which had been
published in England and elsewhere. He seems also to
have acknowledged his obligations to the English Am-
bassador, who was on board the same ship and appears to

* Pap. @état du Card, de Granvelle, tom. ii. p. 393.

_ LIFE OF ELYOT. CXXili

have helped to make things pleasant for his French col-
league.

Now it is curious that the name of the English ambassa-
dor is not only not given. by the Emperor, or by Sandoval, or
other foreign writers who have left us accounts of the expedi-
tion to Tunis, but the fact that a representative of Eng-
land was present is totally ignored by Mr. Thomas in his
Historical Notes, and, so far as we have been able to
ascertain, by every other English writer. We may ob-
serve here that M. Henne, who has devoted ten octavo
volumes to the reign of Charles V., dismisses the subject of
what he calls ‘this glorious expedition’ in a couple of pages,
but this may probably be because the services of the Belgians
who took part in it have not been recorded.* A list of the
ambassadors present at the capture of Tunis is supplied by
M. Chotin, who has followed Sandoval’s account. They re-
presented respectively England, France, Portugal, Milan,
Florence, Venice, Ferrara, Saluce, Genoa, Sienne, Mantua, and
Naples.’ Their names, however, except in the case of de
Vély, are not given. Now, starting with the fact that Elyot
was not in England in July, and that he heard the news of
More’s death not direct from England but from the Emperor,
it seems not at all unlikely that he had left this country in
May to embark with the Emperor at Barcelona, or perhaps
had joined the contingent from the Low Countries at Ant-
werp.© If he had merely gone to Naples to meet the Em-
peror on his return from Tunis, he would hardly have left

® ‘Les historiens se sont tus sur la part prise par les Belges ἃ cette glorieuse
expedition ; pourtant 1a, comme partout, ils soutinrent noblement leur réputation
de vaillance’—Hist. du regne de Chas. V., tom, vi. p. 89, ed. 1859.

» Hist. des exped. marit. de Chas. V., p. 164, ed. 1849.

5.1] est constant qu’une grande partie de la flotte avait été fournie par les
Pays-Bas.’— Henne, di supra, tom. vi. p. 90.

CXXiV . LIFE OF ELYOT.

England so early as July, and, in any case, could not fail
to have heard the news of More’s death on passing
through Rome. If, on the other hand, he actually took
part in the expedition, it is easy to understand that
he might be without intelligence from England, whilst
other means of information would doubtless be open to
the Emperor. Moreover the fact that Elyot had been
previously acquainted with de Vély makes it highly prob-
able that he would be ready to exert his influence with
the Emperor to make matters smooth for his colleague, the
representative of a power of whom Charles had some present
ground of complaint.*

All things considered, then, it seems not unlikely that
Elyot was really present as a spectator of the Spanish opera-
tions in Africa, notwithstanding the absence of any positive
evidence as to the fact. We can only deplore here, as at
other points in Elyot’s career, the strange fate which has de-
prived us of the greatest part of a correspondence which must
surely have been voluminous and could not fail to be most
interesting.

In 1536 a Royal Proclamation was issued ‘For callyng
in diuers writings and bokes, and specially one boke im-
printed, comprising a sermon made by John Fysher, late
Bishop of Rochester: and also against light persons called
pardoners and sellers of indulgences.’» It is unfortunate that
we are obliged to rely for our knowledge of this Order upon
a mere bibliographical catalogue, but no collection of the

* Francesco Contarini, Venetian Ambassador with the King of the Romans, in
a letter to the Signory dated July 23, 1535, says, “1 understand that the Emperor
complains greatly of the most Christian King, saying that the cannon balls fired at
the Imperial forces are stamped with the lily.’ -Ca/. State Pap. (Venetian), vol.
v. p. 30, the Rolls ed.

» See Ames, 7ypog. Ant. vol. iii. p. 292, ed. 1816.

ὝΨΗ

LIFE OF ELYOT. CXXV

proclamations of this reign has ever been made, which is.
much to be regretted, for, as Mr. Herbert has pointed out
‘they would afford much light to our historians,’ The short
notice of the one mentioned above is given by Ames without
comment, but is said to be taken ‘from Mr. T. Baker’s in-
terleaved copy of Maunsell’s catalogue.’ This last was one
of the volumes bequeathed to the Cambridge University
Library by the will of Mr. Thomas Baker, formerly fellow of
St. John’s Coll. dated Oct. 15, 1739.2 Mr. Herbert inquires,
‘which of the Bishop’s sermons it was that came under this
lash?’ and supposes it ‘to have been rather a treatise in
answer to a book printed in 1530, concerning the King’s
marriage.’ It seems however much more probable that it
referred to the sermon preached by Fisher at the funeral, or
rather at the ‘months mind’ of the Lady Margaret, mother of
Henry VII., who died June 29, 1509. This was afterwards
printed by Wynkyn de Worde, and is decidedly of a Popish
tendency. In consequence of this Proclamation it appears
that Elyot thought it necessary to write the following letter
to Cromwell.
‘Mr. Secretary, in my right humble maner I have me
recommended unto you. Sir, all beit that it were my duetie
to awayte on you desyring to be perfeitly instructed in
the effectuall understanding of the Kinges most graciouse
pleasure contayned in his graces proclamation concerning
sediciouse bookes. Now for as moche as I have ben very
sikk and yet am not entierly recovered, I am constrayned to
importune you with theise my homely lettres, which con-
sydering my necessitie and syncere meaning, I trust will not
be fastidiouse unto you whome I have allway accompted one

« See Bishop Fisher's Sermon, Ὁ. 274, ed. Hymers, 1840.
b See Baker’s Preface to the Sermon, p. 58, ed. 1840.

οχχνὶ LIFE OF ELYOT.

of my chosen frendes for the similitude of our studies which
undoubtidly is the moste perfeict fundacion of amitie. Sir,
as ye knowe, I have ben ever desyrouse to reade many bookes
specially concerning humanitie and morall philosophy, and
therefore of suche studies I have a competent numbre. But -
concerning holy scripture I have very fewe, for in questionistes
I never delyted, unsavery gloses and commentes I ever
abhorred, the bostars and advauntars of the pompouse
authoritie of the Busshop of Rome I never esteemyd. But
after that, by moche and seriouse reading, I had apprehendid
a jugement or estimacion of thinges, I didd anon smell oute
theire corrupt affections and beheelde with sorowful eyes the
sondry abusions of theire authorities adorned with a licen-
ciouse and dissolute forme of lyving ; of the which, as well in
theim as in the universall state of the clergy, I have often-
tymes wisshed a necessary reformacion. Whereof hath happed
no litle contencion betwixt me and suche persones as ye have
thought that I have specially favored, even as ye allso didd,
for some laudable qualities which we supposid to be in theim.
But neither they mowght persuade me to approve that which
both faith and my raison condemned, nor I mowght dissuade
theim from the excusing of that which all the worlde abhorred.
Which obstinacy of bothe partes relentid the grete affection
betwene us and withdrue oure familiar repayre. As touching
suche bookes as be now prohibited contayning the Busshop
of Romes authoritie, some indeede I have joyned with diverse
other workes in one grete volume or twoo at the moste, which
I never found laysor to reade. Notwithstanding if it be the
Kinges pleasure and yours that I shall bringe or send theim
I will do it right gladly. As for the warkes of John Fisshar,
I never hadd any of theim to my knowlege except one litle
sermone, which aboute eight or nyne yeres passid was
translatid into Latine by Mr. Pace, and for that cause I

LIFE OF ELVYOT. CXXVii

bowght it more than for the author or mater, but where it is I
am not sure, for in goode faithe I never redd it but ones sens
I bowght it. Finally, if your pleasure be to have that and
the other, for as moche as my bookes be in sondry houses of
myne own, and farre asonder, I hartily pray you that I may
have convenient respeyte to repayre thither after my present
recovery, and as I wold that godd sholde helpe me I will
make diligent serche, and suche as I shall finde savering any
thinge agaynst the Kinges pleasure I will putt theim in
redyness either to be browght to you or to be cut oute of
the volume wherein they be ioyned with other,as ye shall
advyse me, after that I have certified to you the titles of
theim. Wherefore, Sir, I hartily besieche you for the syncere
love that I have towardes you to advertyse me playnly (ye ἡ
lakking laisor to write) either by Mr. Petre Vanes or Mr.
Augustine, thei writing what your counsaile and advise’ is
herein, which to my power I will folow. And goode Mr.
Secretary, consvder that from the tyme of our first acquayn-
tance, which began of a mutual benevolence, ye never knew
in me froward opynion or dissimulacion, perchaunce naturall
symplicitie not discretely ordred mowght cause men suspect
that I favored hypocrysy, supersticion, and vanitie. Notwith-
standing, if ye mowght see my thowghtes as godd doeth, ye
shold finde a reformar of those thynges, and not a favorar, if
I mowght that I wold, and that I desire no lass that my
Soveraigne Lord sholde prosper and be exaltid in honor than
any servaunt that he hath, as Christe knowith, who send to you
abundaunce of his grace with longe lif. Writen at Combe on
the Vigil of Saint Thomas.
‘Yours unfaynedly,
‘TH. ELYOT, Kt,’ *

* Cotton MSS. Cleop. E. VI. fo. 248, orig. printed in Avch@ologia, vol. xxxiii,
Ρ. 352, and Strype’s Zccles. Mem. vol. i. pt. 2, p. 228,

CXXVIii LIFE OF ELYOT.

Upon this letter Strype has founded a theory of his own
which really seems quite unnecessary. He tells us that
Cromwell, ‘where he saw occasion, directed his letters to
particular persons to bring in their books of this nature upon
their peril. And though Sir Thomas Elyot, the learned
knight, and in the year 1532 the King’s Ambassador to Rome,
was his old friend and very well known to him, yet he, sus-
pecting him to be favourable to the old religion, and knowing
him to be a great acquaintance of Sir Thomas More, writ to
him, warning him to send in any popish books that he had.
Whereat Elyot wrote to the said Crumwel a letter, wherein
he declared to him his judgment of the need of a reformation
of the Clergy, and concerning Papists and popish books, to
clear himself of any surmise the King or the Secretary might
have of him.’* Now, there is really no evidence whatever to
support Strype’s assertion that Cromwell himself wrote to
particular persons, &c. On the contrary, we may fairly infer
from the tenor of Elyot’s letter, Ist. that the first intimation
he received of the prohibition of the books in question was
from the Royal Proclamation itself; 2nd. that Elyot took the
initiative in writing to Cromwell to plead his state of health
as an excuse for not calling upon the latter to receive his
instructions ; and 3rd. that his letter was not in answer to a
previous one addressed to him by Cromwell. We have
already dealt with the question of the accuracy of Strype’s
statement that Elyot was sent on a mission to Rome in 1532,
and therefore need not further discuss it. We note here,
however, another, though a much more venial error, on the
part of this writer in making Elyot date his letter from
‘Cambridge’ instead of from Combe.

According to Lowndes, the sermon of Fisher, which Pace

» Eccles, Mem. vol. i. pt. 1, p. 341.

LIFE OF ELYOT. ΟΧΧΙΧ

translated into Latin, was on the text John Xv. 26, and was
printed at Cambridge in 1521.* If this be, as it probably is,
the same which Elyot alludes to, the latter either did not
make sufficient allowance for the lapse of time, or he reckoned
only the years which had passed since he himself purchased
the book. The Mr. Peter Vannes mentioned by Elyot was
the King’s secretary for the Latin tongue, who had been sent
to Marseilles in 1533, and the following year was made Arch-
deacon of Worcester in succession to Dr. Clayburgh,” who, as
we have already seen, was one of the Masters in Chancery.

On July 2, 1536, Thomas Cromwell was appointed Lord
Privy Seal, an office which was rendered vacant by the
resignation of Sir Thomas Boleyn. It was probably in
the autumn of this year, the smaller monasteries having
been suppressed in the spring, that Elyot, who had not yet
succeeded in obtaining compensation for the losses he had
suffered in the King’s service, wrote the following letter to his
old friend, to whom the King had shown so much more favour
than to Elyot himself.

‘My moste speciall goode Lorde. Whereas by your con-
tynuell exercise in waighty affayres, allso frequent access of
sutars unto your goode lordship, I could not fynde oportunity
to gyve to your lordship due and convenyent thankes for
your honourable and gentill report to the Kinges maiesty on
Wenysday last passid in my favor, I am now constrayned to
supply with my penne my sayde duety. Offryng unto your
lordship all harty love and servyce that a poure man may owe
and beare to his goode lorde and approved frende, which,
allthowgh hability lakking in me I can not expresse by any

* Bibliographer’s Manual, vol. ii. p. 718, ed. 1834.

> Le Neve, Fasti Ecc. Ang. vol. iii. p. 75.
© Rymer. Fwd. vol. xiv. p. 571.

h

CXXX LIFE OF ELYOT.

benefyte, your wisedom, notwithstanding, (which I have allway
honoured and trustid) will I doubt not accept my goode
intent, being I thank godd ever syncere and without flatery
or ill dissimulacion. I wisshing unto your lordship the hon-
orable desyres of your hart with the contynuall favor of godd
and of your Prynce. My lorde, for as moche as I suppose
that the Kinges moste gentill communicacion with me and
allso his moste comfortable report unto the lordes of me
proceded of your afore remembred recommendacions, 1 am
animate to importune your good lordship with moste harty
desyres to contynue my goode lorde in augmenting the
Kinges goode estimacion of me, whereof I promise you
before godd your lordship shall never have cause to repent,
And where I perceyve that ye suspect that I favour not truely
holy Scripture, I wold godd that the King and you mowght
see the moste secrete thowghtes of my hart, surely ye shold
than perceyve that, the ordre of charity savyd, I have in as
‘moche detestation as any man lyving all vayne supersticions,

superfluouse ceremonyes, sklaunderouse ionglynges, countre- |
faite mirakles, arrogant usurpacions of men callid Spirituall,
and masking religious, and all other abusions of Christes holy
doctrine and lawes. And as moche I inioy at the Kinges
godly proceding to the due reformacion of the sayde enor-
myties as any his graces poure subiect lyving. I therefor
beseche your goode lordship now to lay apart the remem-
braunce of the amity betwene me and sir Thomas More, which
was but wsgue-ad aras, as is the proverb, consydering that I
was never so moche addict unto hym as I was unto truthe
and fidelity toward my soveraigne lorde as godd is my juge.
And where my speciall trust and onely expectation is to be
holpen by the meanes of your lordship, and naturall shame-
fastness more raigneth in me than is necessary, so that I

LIFE OF ELVOT. CXXX1

wold not prese to the Kinges maiesty withoute your lord-
shippes assistence unto whome I have sondry tymes declarid

_ myn indigence, and whereof it hath hapned, I therefor moste

humbly desyre you, my speciall goode lorde, so to bryng me
into the Kinges most noble remembrance that of his moste
bounteouse liberality it may like his highnesse to reward me
with some convenyent porcion of his suppressid landes
whereby I may be able to contynue my life according to that
honest degree whereunto his grace hath callid me. And
that your lordship forgete not that neither of his grace, not
of any other persone I have fee, office, pencion, or ferme, no1
have any maner of lucre or advauntage besydes the revenues
of my poure land which are but small and no more than I
may therewith mayntayne my poure house. And if by your
lordshippes meanes I may achieve goode effect of my sute
your lordship shall not fynde me-ingrate. And whatsoever
porcion of land that I shall attayne by the Kinges gift, I
promyse to give to your lordship the first yeres frutes with
myn assured and faithfull hart.and servyce. This lettre I
have writen bycause that I herd that your lordship went to
the Court. And as for my first sute, I shall at your lord-
shippes better laysour recontynue it, trusting allso in your
lordshippes favor therein. Writen at my house by Smyth-

feld this Moneday.
‘Yours moste bounden,

‘TH. ELYOT, Kt.’ ®

This letter shows us pretty plainly that Elyot’s friendship
and intimacy with Sir Thomas More had, as we might
naturally expect, caused him to be looked upon with some

* Addressed ‘To my speciall goode lorde my lorde Pryvy Seale.’ Cotton
MSS. Cleop. E. IV. fo. 220, orig. printed in Archeologia, vol. xxxiii. p. 353, and

also in Wright’s Lett, relating to Suppress. 97 Monast. p. 140.
h2

ΟΧΧΧΙΪ LIFE OF ELYOT.

suspicion not only by the King but by Cromwell. It is only
in this way that we can account for the apparent neglect with
which Elyot, after a long and useful career in the public
service of his country, found himself treated. The repeated
requests contained in the letters we have quoted for some
substantial recognition of his services afford unmistakable
proof that for some reason hitherto not quite intelligible, but
which the allusion to More in this last letter helps to explain,
those services important though they were, had remained
unrequited. But it is quite unnecessary to assume that Elyot
intended to disown his friendship for More, or to charge him
as Mr. Cooper has thought fit to do with ‘meanly apologising
for an intimacy of which he might well have been proud.’ ἃ
Such an imputation could not have been made if Elyot’s
meaning had been properly understood. Now, in order to do
this we must first understand the meaning of the proverb to
which he alludes, This in its expanded form is usgue ad
aram amicus sum a translation of the Greek μέχρι τοῦ βωμοῦ
φίλος εἰμί, the answer attributed by Plutarch” to Pericles
when asked by a friend to give false testimony on his behalf.
The interpretation put upon this proverb by Erasmus is as
follows : ‘Admonet proverbium nonnunquam quo consulamus
amicorum commodis, eorumque voluntati morem geramus, fas
videri paululum a recto deflectere, verum eatenus, ne propter
hominem amicum numinis reverentiam violemus.’*¢ And we
can have little doubt that Elyot understood and quoted the
apophthegm in this sense. What he meant by saying that
his friendship with More was only wsgue ad aras was not to
deny the fact, but to assure Cromwell that he had never
allowed his feeling of regard and affection for More in a

* Athene Cantab, vol. i. p. 89. > De Vitioso Pudore, cap. 6.
© Adagia, p. 490, ed. 1517,

έν...

LIFE OF ELYOT. CXXXili

private capacity to interfere with the performance of his own
duty to the King, or to detract from the full measure of his
allegiance. If we read Elyot’s letter by this light we shall
have no occasion to impute to him the meanness of intending
to disavow a life-long friendship.

A third edition of Zhe Governour was published in 1537,
but the great work which now occupied the attention of its
author was the preparation of a Latin-English Dictionary.
Up to this time a correct knowledge of Latin, as written
not by medizval diplomatists and lawyers but by the best
classical authors, had been acquired by a slow and painful
process involving immense industry and under the serious
disadvantage arising from the absence of any complete and
accurate dictionary of that language. Ludovicus Vives who
had visited England some years previously and been intro-
duced to all the most eminent men of the day, including
without doubt Sir Thomas Elyot, had already called attention
in his treatise De tradendis disciplinis, printed in 1531, to the
necessity for a comprehensive work of this kind, considering
the imperfect character of those then in use.* In England
nothing of the kind existed ‘ beyond the mere vocabularies of
school-boys ;’” for the Promptorium Parvulorum printed by
Pynson in 1499, and the Ortus Vocabulorum by Wynkyn de
Worde in 1500, do not deserve, and indeed do not aspire to
be designated by a higher title. Elyot in the interest of his
own countrymen adopted the suggestion thus thrown out by

® ‘Ex quibus universis confletur dictionarium Latinz linguz, quéd nullum est
plenum satis et justum. . . . Expediet in quaque etiam vulgari lingua geminum
pueris tradi, unum quo Latina verba reddantur vulgaribus, alterum quo vice versa
vulgaria Latinis : quod in nostro sermone Antonius Nebrissensis fecit, opus non satis
exactum, tyronibus magis quam provectioribus utile.’-—Ofera, vol. i. p. 475, ed.

1555.
> Hallam, Zzt. of Europe, vol. i. p. 344, 4th ed.

CXXXIV LIFE OF ELYOT.

Vives, and in 1536-7 commenced to lay the foundation of the
first work entitled to be called a Dictionary printed in Eng-
land. A report of his design was quickly carried to the
King, who was graciously pleased to signify his approbation,
not by mere words of courtesy, but by the more substan-
tial favour of a loan of books from the Royal Library.
Elyot’s own account of this act of royal condescension,
which exhibits Henry in his most pleasing aspect is as
follows: ‘About a yere passed,’ he says (he is writing in
1538), ‘I beganne a Dictionarie declaryng latine by eng-
lishe, wherin I used lyttell study, beinge than occupied
about my necessarye busynes, whiche letted me from the
exacte labour and study requisyte to the makynge of a
perfyte Dictionarie. But whyles it was in printyng and
uneth the half deale performed your hyghnes being informed
therof by the reportes of gentyll maister Antony Denny, for
his wysedome and diligence worthily callyd by your high-
nesse into your priuie Chamber, and of Wyllyam Tildisley,
keper of your gracis Lybrarie, and after mooste specially by
the recommendation of the most honourable lorde Crumwell,
lorde priuie seale, fauourer of honestie, and next to your
highnesse chiefe patron of vertue and cunnyng, conceyued of
my labours a good expectation, and declaryng your moste
noble and beneuolent nature in fauouryng them that wyll be
well occupied, your hyghnesse in the presence of dyuers your
noble men commendynge myne enterprise affirmed that if I
wolde ernestely trauayle therin, your highnes, as well with
your excellent counsaile as with suche bokes as your grace
had and I lacked, wold therin ayde me.’ The encouragement
he thus received induced Elyot to re-cast his work and to
take still greater pains to render it worthy of such high
patronage. His criticisms on the works of his predecessors,

LIFE OF ELYOT, CXXXV

and his account of the state in which he found this depart-
ment of literature are well worth quoting in his own words.

“1 well perceyued that all though dictionaries had ben

gathered one of an other, yet nethelesse in eche of them ar
omitted some latin wordes interpreted in the bokes whiche in
order preceded. For Festus* hath manye whiche are not in
Varros Analogi:® Nonius® hath some whiche Festus lacketh :
Nestor? toke nat all that he founde in them bothe. Tortel-
lius® is not so abundant as he is diligent: Laurentius Valla*
wrate only of words which are called elegancies, wherin he is
undoubtedly excellent; Perottus* in Cornucopie dyd omitte

* Sextus Pompeius Festus, temp. incert. A portion only of the MS. of this
work was transferred by Pomponius Lztus, a celebrated scholar of the fifteenth
century, to Manilius Rallus, in whose hands they were seen in 1485 by Politian.
The portion which remained in the custody of Letus was repeatedly tran-
scribed, but it is known that the archetype was lost before 1581, when Ursinus
published his edition. The original codex written upon parchment, probably in the
eleventh or twelfth century, appears to have consisted, when entire, of 128 leaves,
or 256 pages, each page containing two columns; but at the period when it was
first examined by the learned, 58 leaves at the beginning were wanting, compre-
hending all the letters before M. See Smith’s Dict. of Biog. It is rather a re-
markable coincidence that Elyot had proceeded in the first instance only as far as
the same letter. Is it possible that he could have had in his Ῥοβασβεῖοαι this

missing portion of the ancient MS. ?
> M. Terentius Varro, B.c. 116-28. His treatise, De Limgué Latind, was

printed at Rome by Pomponius Leetus in 1471.
* Nonius Marcellus, temp. incert, The editio princeps of his work was fein

at Rome in 1471.

4 Dionysius Nestor, of Novara, in Italy, compiled Oxomasticon, or Latin Dic-
tionary, which was published at Milan in 1488, and at Paris in 1496. See
Fabric. zblioth. Latina, tom. v. p. 97, ed. 1754, and Wadding, Scrzpt. Ord.
Min. p. 179.

¢ An Italian grammarian who was born at Arezzo about A.D. 1400, and died
before 1466. His Comment. de Orthographid dictionum ὃ Grecis tractatum opus
appeared at Venice and Rome in 1471.

7 Laurentius Valla was born at Rome in 1406, and died at Naples in 1457.
His De Elegantié Latine lingue was published simultaneously at Rome, Venice,
and Paris, in 1471.

& Nicolas Perotti, Bishop of Siponto or Manfredonia, on the east coast of Italy,
was born in 1430 and died in 1480. His chief work was Cornucopia sive lingue

CXXXvi LIFE OF ELYOT.

almost none that before him were written, but in wordis com-
pounde he is to compendiouse; Fryere Calepine * (but where
he is augmented by other) nothyng amended but rather
appaired that which Perottus had studiousely gathered.
Nebressensis” was both well lerned and diligent, as it appereth
in some wordes which he declareth in latin ; but bicause in his
dictionarie wordes are expounde in the spainyshe tunge whiche
I do nat understand, I can nat of hym shewe myn opinion:
Budeus® in the exact triall of the natiue sence of wordes, as
well greke as latine, is assuredly right commendable, but he is
moste occupied in the conference of phrasis of bothe the
tunges whiche in comparison are but in a fewe wordes. Dyuers
other men haue written sondry annotations and commentaries
on olde latine authors, among whom also is discorde in their
expositions.’ Elyot tells us that when he considered the
difficulty of the undertaking in which he had embarked, he
began to despair of executing the work satisfactorily, but the

Latine commentarit, the first edition of which was published in 1489. See
Hallam, Hest. of Zit, vol. i. p. 192.

« Ambroise Calepino was born at Bergamo in 1435, and died in 1511. The
first edition of his Dictionary, which, though far better than one or two obscure books
that preceded it, and enriched by plundering the stores of Valla and Perotti, was
very defective, appeared at Reggio in 1502. See Hallam, di supra, p. 253.

> Elius Antony de Lebrixa, who turned his name into Nebrissensis in Latin,
was born in 1444 at Lebrixa, a village on the Guadalquivir, in Spain. He read
lectures for some years at the Universities of Seville and Salamanca, and wrote an
infinite number of books about grammar, In 1513 he forsook the University of
Salamanca, and addicted himself entirely to the service of Cardinal Ximenes, who
gave him the government of his own University of Complutum or Alcala d’Enarez,
where Nebrissensis died in 1522, aged 77 years. See Dupin, Eccl. Writers,
vol. iii. p. 79, ed. 1724.

¢ Budé, or, as he is generally called by the Latinised form of his name, Budzeus,
was born at Paris in 1467, and died in 1540. ‘He raised himself to a pinnacle
of philological glory,’ says Hallam, ‘by his Commentarii Lingue Grece, Paris,
1529. . . . In this large and celebrated treatise Budzeus has established the in-
terpretation of a great part of the language. . . . His Commentaries stand not
only far above anything else in Greek literature before the middle of the sixteenth
century, but are alone in their class.’— Udi supra, pp. 328

LIFE OF ELVOT. CXXXVil

favour extended to him by the King induced him to persevere.
He then explains in what respects his Dictionary surpassed
any that had preceded it in England. ‘Whan I consydred
all this I was attached with an horrible feare, remembryng
my dangerous enterprise (I being of so smal reputation in
lernyng in comparison of them whom I haue rehersed) as
well for the difficultie in the true expressynge the lyuely
sence of the latine wordes as also the importable labours in
serching, expending and discussing the sentences of ancient
writers. This premeditation abated my courage, and despera-
tion was euen at hand to rent al in pieces that I had written
had nat the beames of your royal maiestie entred into my
harte by remembraunce of the comforte whiche I of your
grace had lately receyued, wherwith my spirite was reuyued
and hath set up the sayle of good courage, and under your
graces gouernance, your highnesse being myn onely mayster
and styrer® of the shyppe of all my good fortune, I am entred
the goulfe of disdaynous enuie, hauynge fynished for this
tyme this symple Dictionarie, wherin I dare affirme may be
founde a thousande mo latine wordes than were togither in
any one Dictionarie publyshed in this royalme, at the tyme
whan I fyrste began to write this commentarie, which is almost
two yeres passed. For beside the conference of phrases or
fourmes of speakynge latin and englishe, I haue also added
proper termes belongynge to lawe and phisike, the names of
diuers herbes knowen among us, also a good number of
fishes founden as wel in our occean as in our riuers; more-
ouer sondrie poysis, coyne, and measures sometymes used
among the auncient Romaynes, Grekes, and Hebrues. Whiche
knowlege to the reders not only of histories and orations of
Tullie, but also of holy scripture, and the bokes of auncient

* 7,6. steerer,

CXXXVIII ° LIFE OF ELYOT.

phisitions shall be founde pleasant and also commodiouse.
Nor I haue omitted prouerbes callyd Adagia, or other quicke
sentences whiche I thought necessarie to be had in remem-

braunce. ΑἹ] be it for as moche as partely by negligence at '

the begynnynge, partly by untrue information of them whom
I trusted, also by to moche trust had in Calepine, some fautes
may he founden by dilygent redynge, I therfore most
humbly beseche your excellent maiestie, that where your
hyghnesse shall happen to doubte of any one worde in the
fyrste parte of this warke, or perchance do lacke any worde
whiche your maiestie shall happen to rede in any good
author, that it may lyke your grace to repayre incontinente
unto the seconde parte, whiche is myn addition, sekyng there
for the same worde in the letter wherwith he begynneth,
trustynge veryly that your highnes there shall be satisfied,
And for as moche as by haste made in printyng some letters
may happen to lacke, some to be sette in wronge places or
the ortography nat to be truely obserued, I therfore haue
put all those fautes in a table folowing this preface, wherby
they may be easily corrected ; and that done, I truste in god
no manne shall fynde cause to reiect this boke, but rather
thankefully to take my good wyll and labours, gyuynge to your
maiestie mooste hartye thankes as to the chiefe author therof,
by whose gracious meanes menne beinge studious may
understande- better the latine tunge in syxe monethes than
they mought haue doone afore in thre yeres withoute perfyte
instructours, whyche are not many, and suche as be are not easy
to come by: the cause, I nede not to reherse, sens I ones
declared it in my booke called The Gouernour, whiche about

viii yeres passed I dydde dedicate unto your hyghnesse. And -

for my, parte I render most humble thankes unto your
maiestie for the good estimation that your grace retayneth of

LIFE OF ELYOT. CXXXI1X

my poore lerning and honestie, promysynge therfore to your
highnes that duryng my lyfe naturall I shall faythfully em-
ploye all the powers of my wytte and body to serue truely
your maiestie in euery thynge wherto your mooste excellent
iudgement shall thynke my seruyce conuenient and necessary.
In the meane tyme and alway, as your bounden seruant, I shal
hartily pray unto god to prospere your hyghenes in all your
vertuouse procedynges, grauntynge also that your maiestie
may longe raigne ouer us, to the incomparable comforte and
ioye of all your naturall and louynge subiectes. Amen.’
This, the most ambitious of Elyot’s works, whether we
consider the age in which it was produced, or compare it with
similar philological works of the same or even a later period
in England, certainly deserves to be spoken of in more τε-
spectful terms than it is by Hallam, who styles it ‘but a
meagre performance.’* Such at any rate was not the opinion
of Fuller, who calls it ‘an excellent Dictionary of Latine
and English, if not the first, the best of that kind in that age.’®
Thomas Cooper, the subsequent editor, whilst greatly enlarging
it, and thereby adding immensely to its utility, paid a just
tribute to the learning and industry of the author. He
changed the original title of Bzbliotheca to Thesaurus, being
unwilling, as he tells us, to deprive Elyot of the credit of his
share in the production of the work, and as a mark of grati-
tude forthe assistance he had derived from the labours of his
predecessor. Elyot presented a copy of his work to his
friend and patron Cromwell with a complimentary letter in-
scribed proprid manu on the fly leaf. This identical copy isnow
in the Library of the British Museum, but in 1748, when Tanner
published his great bibliographical work, it was in the King’s

® Hist. of Lit. vol. i. p. 344, 4th ed.
» Worthies of England, p. 168, ed. 1662.

οχὶ LIFE OF ELVOT.

Library at Westminster.* As the letter to Cromwell has
never been printed, and is an interesting specimen of Elyot’s
skill in Latin composition, and as moreover it concludes the
correspondence, so far as we have been able to discover, be-
tween these two eminent contemporaries, we make no apology
for inserting it verbatim.

‘Nobili Baroni® D. T. Cromoello, virtutis et scientiarum
patrono, T. Eliota Anglobritannus Eques S.D.

Fateor equidem, vir clarissime, te rebus maxumis esse
natum, nec tam Fortune beneficio quam Dei Opt. Max erga-
que gentem nostram benevolentis perpetud voluntate ad hunc
dignitatis gradum feliciter pervenisse. Quandoquidem Regi
longé sapientissimo (fatis applaudentibus) additus es Minister
ac Consiliarius, ut summa industria summaque prudentia cum
multa tum ampla negotia, illo imperante, conficeres. Macte
igitur ingenti animo hosque vulgares hominum affectus te
quidem indignos existimes, tum succensere scilicet, deque eo
gravius existimare qui statim non applaudat his que abs te
primum ac merito fortassis comprobantur. Quod si feceris,
me multum amplexabere, quod leges amicitie retinuerim,
habebisque magnam gratiam mihi, quod iis profecto consiliis
pepererim tibi tum gratam omnibus tum solidam ac diutur-
nam felicitatem famamque mirificam apud posteros, quod,
quum sis in dignitatis fastigio positus, tam charus habeare
bonis viris quam jure metuendus sceleratis atque nefariis.
He valde liberé sed ab amico quo neminem habiturus es
fide ac voluntate erga te prestantiorem. Quod non mentior
tute judicaveris primi congressis nostri memor, ἃ quo hic

* Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, p. 259, ed. 1748.

> According to Stow, Thomas Cromwell was made Lord Cromwell July 10,

1536 (See Annales, p. 572, ed. 1615) ; but according to Strype not till April 18,

1539 (Lccles. Mem, vol. i. pt. 1, p. 561); the latter date however is obviously
incorrect.

LIFE OF ELYOT. ΟΧΙῚ

quidem annus est undevigesimus, quod maxumam erga te
concceptam benevolentiam non tantidem relaxarim ut non
optarim semper ex animo dignam tuo ingenio fortunam augeri
longoque xvo perpetuam fieri. Si tamen istec non satis
tibi persuadeant me tuis tantum favere fortunis quam qui
maxume, revoca quam szpe fassus es in privatis colloquiis me
bonum virum esse, quam confidenter in publicis me doctum
compellasti, que vis, que necessitas, quod meum beneficium
(quum nusquam egregium fuerit) te tantum virum adigere
potuit ut πες de me vel assentando diceres, vel aliud preedi-
cares quam tu te experiundo noveris? Scio nimirum qudd
magis πᾶ predicatione quam re ipse bonus aut doctus sim.
Nempe quod ad alterum nunquam aspirare, alterum optare
magis quam assequi potuissem. Sed ne videar tuis beneficiis
obluctari, perge me bonum virum existimare, vel quod toller-
abilius est, minimé malum, miniméque magnis in artibus
amplissimisve consiliis secordem aut improbum. Possitne (si
diis placet) inesse tali viro malum aliquod? Et ego cum
Cicerone fateor nullum esse magnum malum preter culpam.
At nulla culpa gravior (med quidem sententia) quam fidem
fallere, amicique de se pleraque bené meriti vel famam im-
minuere vel periclitantem non tueri, si possit. Ita Deum
habeam propitium, ut semper vehementer optarim dicta facta-
que tua optumis quibusque probari. Nam omnibus satisfacere
ne quidem in votis esset, nedum superis unquam licuit. Czeter-
um post hac omni submota suspitione confirmes me ejusmodi
virum esse qualem existimare debes tua dignum amicitia,
provocatum non tam insigni quopiam beneficio vel ambitione
quadpiam quam rarissima ingenii tui foecunditate studiorumque
similitudine.
‘Vive felix amicorum Preses.
‘Tuus quantus sum et extra fucum,
ἜΣ ELIOTA!

exlii ‘LIFE OF ELYOT.

This letter seems completely to dispose of Dean Hook’s
suggestion that ‘it is more than doubtful whether Cromwell
ever understood Latin at all.’*

The Bzbliotheca was reprinted at least once in the lifetime

of its author, viz. in 1545.5 It is evident indeed that Elyot

at the time when the first edition was published, contemplated
making further improvements in it, for in the preface to The
Image of Governance he says: ‘My Dictionary declarynge
latyne by englishe, by that tyme that I haue performed it
shall not only serue for children as men haue excepted it, but
also shall be commodiouse for them which perchaunce be well
lerned. After Elyot’s death it was corrected and augmented,
as already mentioned, by Cooper, afterwards Bishop of Lin-
coln, who brought out a new edition in 1550,°and a second in
1552, and it was no doubt a copy of this last which was
presented to Edward the Sixth in 1553.°
In 1540 a new edition of Pasguyll the Playne was
brought out by Berthelet, and in the previous year one of
The Castel of Helth, the latter being dedicated ‘To the ryght
honourable Thomas lorde Crumwell, lorde priuye seale.’! The
Education or bringinge up of children, translated oute of
Plutarche, probably belongs to an earlier date, but was cer-
tainly written before 1540, as it is mentioned in the preface
to The Image of Governance. It is dedicated ‘to his only
* Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, vol, vi. p. 120, ed. 1868. :
> See Ames 7γορ. Ant. vol. iii. p. 331. A copy of this edition was formerly
in the Harleian Library, as we learn from the sale catalogue of that collection,
where there is the following curious note, exhibiting the strange ignorance which

has prevailed with regard to Elyot. ‘ Eliota jurisconsultus secundum ni fallor
Dict. Lat. Angl. concinnavit tempore Henrici Septimi.’—Catal. Bibl. Harl. vol.
ii. p. 987, ed. 1743.

* See Catalog. Bibl. Harleiane, vol. ii. p. 987.

4 See Ames, Zyfog. Ant. vol. 111, p. 337.

© Strype, Zccles. Mem, vol. ii. pt. , p. 124.

τ See Ames, Zyfog. Ant. vol, iii. p. 307.

4% ᾿
inte Ὁ p
, eee

LIFE OF ELVOT. exliii

entierly beloued syster, Margery Puttenham,’ and was
obviously written some time after her marriage, for the
author expresses a hope that she will ‘folowe the intent of
Plutarche in brynginge and inducynge my litell neuewes
into the trayne and rule of vertue. Elyot also probably
about this time carried out his intention, expressed in
The Governour, to write a book for ladies, by publishing
The Defence of good Women, which afforded Fuller an oppor-
tunity to make the facetious but ungallant remark that ‘such
are hardly found and easily defended.’* This book, like
Pasquyll and The knowledge which maketh a wise man, is in
the form of a dialogue between three imaginary interlocutors,
the purport of which may be best gathered from ‘the Argu-
ment.’ According to the latter, ‘A contencion’ is supposed
to arise ‘ betwene two gentill men, the one named Caninius,
the other Candidus. Caninius, like a curre, at womens
condicions is alway barkyng, but Candidus, whiche maie
be interpreted benigne or gentill, iudgeth euer well and
reproueth but seldom. Betwene them two the estimacion
of womankinde cometh in question. After long disputacion
wherin Candidus (as reason is) hath the preheminence,
at the last, for a perfect conclusion, Queene Zenobia
(which liued aboute the yere after the incarnacion of Christe,
274, the noble Aureliane being emperour of Rome) by
the example of hir life confirmeth his argumentes and
also vanquissheth the obstinate mynd of froward Caninius,
and so endeth the matier. The following concise descrip-
tion of this treatise, given by the author himself, expresses
his own opinion of its object. ‘My little boke called the
defence of good women not onely confoundeth villainous

* Worthies of England, p. 168, ed. 1662.

cxliv LIFE OF ELYOT.

reporte, but also teacheth good wyues to know well theyr
dueties.”* It was reprinted five years afterwards.»

On Saturday, January 3, 1540, Anne of Cleves was received
at Blackheath with all the pomp befitting the welcome of a
royal bride, and with all the pageantry which Henry loved
and knew so well how to display. To do honour to so mo-
mentous an occasion, the nobility and principal gentry
of the realm were required to give their attendance. <A
roll is still extant containing the names of all the noble
men and gentlemen who were ordered ‘to receive the Ladie
Anne Cleave and waite on the Kinge.’* In this document
we find Sir Thomas Elyot’s name included in the great
company of knights and esquires who formed part of the royal
train at Shooter’s Hill. The Lord Privy Seal, now Lord
Cromwell, was also present as one of the High Officers of
State, and this may have been the last occasion which
brought together these two eminent spectators of the scene,
friends at this time of more than twenty years standing, and
for one of whom, ere many months should elapse, the same
fatal axe, which had spared neither Fisher nor More nor
even the bridegroom’s late consort, was to be sharpened.

Among the many distinguished men of letters with whom
Elyot must have been brought into contact at the court of
Charles the Fifth was one who obtained an extraordinary
reputation in Europe by a treatise so utterly forgotten at
present that, if we may believe Hallam, Bouterwek has even
omitted his name.* This was Antonio de Guevara, a Biscayan
by birth, who in 1528 became a Franciscan monk, but who
‘enjoying the favour of the Emperor, seems to have been

* Preface to The mage of Gouernaunce.

>» See Ames, Zypog. Ant. vol. iii. p. 329.

© Chron, of Calais, p. 177, ed. 1846, Camden Soc.
1 Lit. of Europe, vol. i, p. 396, 4th ed.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cxlv

transformed into a thorough courtier, accompanying his
master during his journeys and residences in Italy and
other parts of Europe, and rising successively by the royal
patronage to be court preacher, imperial historiographer,
Bishop of Guadix, and Bishop of Mondojiedo.’* His ‘Dial
for Princes, or Marcus Aurelius,’ more commonly known
as The Golden Book was first published in 1529. ‘It was
continually reprinted in different languages for more than a
century; scarce any book except the Bible, says Casaubon,
has been so much translated or so frequently printed.’
According to the author of the History of Spanish Literature,
‘it is akind of romance, founded on the life and character of
Marcus Aurelius, and resembles in some points the Cyropzdia
of Xenophon ; its purpose being to place before the Emperor
Charles the Fifth the model of a prince more perfect for
wisdom and virtue than any other of antiquity.’° This book
was afterwards censured as a literary forgery, but ‘more
severely,’ says Hallam, ‘than is quite reasonable.’

In 1540, Berthelet printed Zhe Jmage of Governance,
compiled of the actes and sentences notable of the moste noble
Emperour Alexander Seuerus, late translated out of Greke into
Englyshe by syr Thomas Elyot, knight, tn the fauour of nobylitie.
By the critics of a later age Elyot has been roughly handled
for writing this book. Bayle did not scruple to denounce
him as an impostor, to characterise the work as a fraud, and
to suggest that the success which had attended the publication
of the Lzbro Aureo and made the name of Guevara famous,

had probably induced Elyot to perpetrate a similar deception.

About the same time Dr. William Wotton, a writer ridiculed
by Swift in his famous Battle of the Books, endeavoured in a
5 Ticknor, Hist. of Span. Lit. vol. ii. p. 16, ed. 1872.

>» Hallam, 122, of Zur. vol. i. p. 396, 4th. ed. © Ubi supra.
i

exlvi LIFE OF ELYOT.

learned note, appended to his History of Rome, to demonstrate
the spurious character of The [mage of Governance. Wotton
adduced no less than nineteen categorical ‘ Reasons,’ based
upon as many different extracts from the book itself, to prove
not only that Encolpius® never wrote the original, but that
Elyot had not translated from the Greek. What strikes a
modern reader as most curious in reading Wotton’s argument
is that a man of his undoubted ability should not at a glance
have discerned the true character of Elyot’s work, and ac-
quitted its author of any fraudulent intention. But on the
contrary, after making an elaborate investigation, during
which passage after passage was separately considered and its
accuracy carefully tested, this pedantic critic, ignoring alike
Elyot’s own admissions in the preface and the internal
evidence afforded by the work itself, condemned the latter as
a forgery.

It is difficult to reconcile such intellectual obliquity with
a really lavish display of erudition. But the very excess of
Wotton’s learning perhaps caused him to overstep the bounds
of common sense, and to lose sight of the most obvious land-
marks. If he had done Elyot the justice to give credit to
the statements contained in the preface to The Image of
Governance, it is impossible to suppose that he could seriously
have brought forward a charge of imposture. After exhaust-
ing every argument to destroy Elyot’s reputation for honesty
he seems at last to have had a slight perception of the true state
of the case, for he admits that when the book first appeared it
‘deceived nobody,’ and remembering Bale’s description of
the work as an original composition, he thinks it ‘very pro-
bable that the public believed the book to be spurious at that

* We may observe that whilst the name appears as Encolpius in Lampridius,
it is uniformly spelt Eucolpius in 7he Jmage of Governance.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cx] vii

time, and composed, not translated, by Sir T. Elyot. After
which he complacently concludes that ‘this argument is per-
haps as good a one’ to prove his point ‘as any of those that
have been urged already.’ ὃ

The charge brought against Elyot of palming off upon
the public a composition of his own under the guise of a
translation of an original work by Encolpius seems altogether
so preposterous that it is scarcely credible that it should have
remained unanswered down to the present day had not
Wotton’s apparently plausible arguments imposed upon sub-
sequent writers, who accepted his conclusions without verifying
his premisses.® The very title of the work, which purports to
be a compilation, ought at the outset to have precluded the
suggestion that it pretended to the character of a continuous
translation. Let ussee, however, what account Elyot himself
gives of his own work. He tells us in the preface that in
searching among his books to find something wherewith to
‘recreate’ his spirits, ‘beinge almoste fatigate with the longe
study aboute the correctinge and ampliatinge of my Dic-
tionary of Latine and Englishe, he ‘hapned to fynde cer-
teyne quaires of paper’ which he ‘had writen about ix. yeres
passed,’ These papers ‘contayned the actes and sentences
notable of the moste noble Emperour Alexander, for his
wysedome and grauity callid Seuerus.. Now as Elyot’s
Dictionary was published, as we have seen, in 1538, these
papers must have betn written about 1529-30, which would be
just. the time when he was engaged in preparing Zhe Governour
forthe press. It is not unreasonable to assume, therefore, that
they may have formed a portion of the materials which Elyot

® Hist. of Rome, p. 540, ed. 1701.
> See for example a note in Hallam’s Zit. of Eur. vol. i. p. 398, 4th ed., and
the article Zncolpius in Smith’s Dict. of Class. δῖον
i2

cxl viii LIFE OF ELYOT.

had collected to assist him in the composition of the latter
work, Without laying too great stress upon this argument, we
may call attention to what appears like an indirect confirma-
tion of it, in the fact that a superfluous paragraph had by
some means crept into the text of the first edition of The
Governour, which might with more propriety have been in-
serted in The Image of Governance The mistake was
detected by the author himself in time to allow of its cor-
rection in the list of Errata. But if we suppose the imper-
tinent paragraph to have been taken by mistake from ‘the
quaires of paper’ mentioned above, its relevancy to The [mage
of Governance becomes at once apparent. For itis not difficult
to imagine that from the mass of translations and notes which
must have accumulated during the composition of Ze Gover-
nour, one might by accident get intermixed with the ‘copy’
which from time to time was transmitted to the printer.

The ‘Acts and Sentences,’ which Elyot himself says, were
contained in these ‘ quaires of paper,’ formed part of a trans-
lation of a Greek book, which he tells us, ‘by good chaunce
was lente unto me by a gentille man of Naples called Puderi-
cus. This statement was rejected by Wotton as altogether
unworthy of belief, and as having been ‘told only to give his
book the more authority among the nobility and gentry of
England to whom it is inscribed.’” If such was the opinion
deliberately pronounced of so learned a man as Wotton, it is
necessary for us before contradicting it te examine very care-
tully for ourselves the credibility of Elyot’s own statement.
Two questions present themselves at the outset of this inquiry
which, if answered in the negative, would tend strongly to cor-
roporate the view taken by Wotton. We require to know, Ist.

* See Vol. II. p. 184, note *, where for chapter xx. read chapter xv.
> Hist. of Rome, p. 533.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cxlix

whether the name Pudericus was real or fictitious? 2nd. If it
was a real name, whether it was borne by any gentleman of
Naples who was contemporary with Sir Thomas Elyot? Fortu-
nately for the latter’s credit we are in a position to answer both
these questions in the affirmative. Upon the authority of the
biographer of noble Neapolitan families we are able to assert
as a positive fact that a family bearing the surname of Poderico,
the Latinised form of which was Pudericus, had been connected
with Naples from very early times. John Maria, one of the
most distinguished members of this house, was installed as
Archbishop of Nazareth, by Innocent VIII. in 1491, and was
translated to the see of Tarentum in1510. Hewas a member
of the Royal Council, and chaplain to the Emperor (presum-
ably Charles the Fifth,) and died in 1525, as appears from his
monument in the Church of St. Laurence at Naples.* John
Antony Poderico, a brother of the prelate, is mentioned as having
held several important offices of state under Ferdinand I. and
II., and received estates at St. Mauro and Cannella in 1498, in
recognition of his services. Many other members of the same
family who lived in the sixteenth century are recorded, whose
claims to special notice are less conspicuous. Even had we
been without any direct evidence of the fact, we could scarcely
doubt that a man who held such important preferment as the
Archbishop would be distinguished as a scholar, but we are
not left in any uncertainty upon this point, because Toppi has
enrolled him among the learned men of his time at Naples
and deemed him worthy of the significant epithet ‘molto
dotto.” This writer, whom we may presume to be accurate
in such matters, designates the Archbishop as ‘Cavaliere

* Carlo de Lellis, Discorst delle Famiglie nobili del regno di Napoli, vol. iii,
Ῥ. 142, ed. 1671.
> Biblioteca Napoletana, p. 148, ed. 1678,

cl LIFE OF ELYOT,

Napolitano,’ of which the nearest English equivalent would
seem to be ‘a gentleman of Naples.’

John Maria Poderico, or, as he is styled in the Latin in-
scription on his monument in the church of St. Laurence at
Naples, Joannes Maria Pudericus,* was thus certainly con-
temporary with Elyot. It is therefore possible that the latter
may have been indebted, if not to the Archbishop himself,
perhaps to some member of his family for the loan of the
book above referred to. Be this however as it may, we have
at any rate produced perfectly independent testimony to prove
that there existed a family at Naples in the sixteenth century
bearing the very name mentioned by Elyot. The latter’s state-
ment, therefore, that he obtained a book from ‘a gentleman
of Naples called Pudericus,’ is evidently not so antecedently
improbable that we are bound to treat it as a fiction.

The book in question, Sir Thomas Elyot tells us, ‘was
first writen in the greke tung” Now The Image of Go-
vernance contains internal evidence to some extent con-
firming the view that the author had translated part of a
Greek book or MS. In Chapter XXV. which contains a
translation of a letter alleged to have been written by
Alexander Severus to Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, the
Greek phrase εὖ πράττειν is printed in the margin, whilst
the word Eucolpius, placed in a similar position on the
preceding leaf, seems intended to indicate to the reader
the fact that the authority for the statements respecting
the Emperor, contained in this particular chapter, was the
‘boke first writen in the greke tung by his secretary named
Eucolpius,’ to which Elyot had already alluded in the Preface.

It was this letter from the Emperor to his namesake,

“See Cesare d’Engenio, Vafoli Sacra, p. 113, ed. 1623, and De Lellis, Discorsi
delle Famigle Nobili, tom. iii. p. 143, ed, 1671,

LIFE OF ELYOT. cli

the Bishop, which attracted the attention of Selden, who
alludes to it in his Commentary on Eutychius. The great
jurist’s unrivalled acquaintance with Oriental literature enabled
him at once to detect an anachronism. No Bishop of |
Alexandria, bearing the name Alexander, had ever been
contemporary with the Emperor Alexander Severus. ‘Sed
nullus tunc temporis plané Episcopus Alexandriz Alexander
dictus est, nec ullus ante Constantinum.’* It isa fact now
well ascertained that the first patriarch of that name was
the famous opponent of Arius in the fourth century. But
although Selden saw that the letter itself was a forgery, and
must have been composed at a much later period, this did not
appear to him a sufficient reason for disbelieving Elyot’s as-
sertion that Zhe Image of Governance was in part translated
from a Greek MS.: ‘Neque aliud quam Greculi alicujus
recentioris commentum libellum illum fuisse dubito, utcunque
sané Lampridio subinde satis concordem.’» In the face of
this criticism, Wotton was obliged to admit that he could not
call Selden as a witness in support of his indictment against
Elyot. ‘Mr. Selden,’ he says, ‘thought the imposture lay at
another door, and believed that Sir T. E. really translated a
Greek MS.’¢ But not disconcerted by the adverse opinion
of a much more competent judge than himself, Wotton en-
deavoured to bolster up his own theory by suggesting that ‘it
was no wonder if the maker of the mage made it agree with
the original from which he copied it.’

The French historian of the Roman Emperors, whose
great work had been published a few years before Wotton
wrote, had said in reference to the real Encolpius, ‘On a

* Eutychii Orig. Comment, p. 175, ed. 1642,
> bt supra.
* Hist, of Rome, p. 539.

clii LIFE OF ELVOT.

imprimé autrefois en anglois un livre traduit du grec, qu’on
pretendoit estre de cet Encolpe, sous le titre d’Jmage du
Gouvernement, et il s'accordoit assez souvent avec Lampride.
Il parloit fort d’un entretien d’Alexandre avec Origene.
Mais il y mettoit des circonstances qui ne conviennent
pas avec histoire. De sorte qu’on juge que cest quelque
fiction des nouveaux Grecs.’* Selden’s treatise was doubt-
less designed for the learned of all countries, and was
therefore written in Latin. It may indeed be doubtful whether
Tillemont was himself acquainted with The Image of Go-
vernance, but it is certain that he had read the remarks
made upon it by Selden in his commentary upon Eutychius,
for he refers expressly to the latter work. Wotton at once saw
that the arguments he sought to controvert would gain ad-
ditional publicity when presented in the more popular form
adopted by the French historian. He endeavoured therefore
to counteract the increased weight which Tillemont’s name
might be expected to lend to that of Selden by suggesting
that ‘Mr. Selden’s authority imposed upon M. de Tillemont,
who probably understood no English, and had never seen the
book itself.” Selden and Tillemont were both dead when
the History of Rome appeared in 1701, but Wotton was well
aware that a far higher degree of respect would be accorded
to their opinions than to his own. ‘The names of those two
learned men,’ he says, ‘have made it necessary that this book
should be examined with care and that the public should be
warned of it, that no man hereafter may be imposed upon by
the authority of this mock-Encolpius.’”

To the careful reader of The Image of Governance it
would appear that there never was the slightest necessity for

* Tillemont, st. des Empereurs, tom. 111, p. 211, ed. 1720,
> Hist. of Rome, p. 539.

LIFE OF ELYOT. cliii

this solemn warning, and Wotton’s elaborate ‘Reasons’ will
only inspire a feeling of regret that so much superfluous
erudition should have been displayed to so little purpose.
For, after all, the most conclusive answer to the charge of
forgery brought by Wotton against Elyot is afforded by Elyot
himself. In the preface to The Image of Governance the
author admits us to his confidence, and relates with every
appearance of candour the circumstances under which the
book came to be written. Having told us that he obtained
the loan of the Greek MS. in the way already described, he
goes on to say, ‘In reading wherof, I was maruaylousely
rauished, and as it hath ben euer myn appetite, I wisshed that
it had ben published in such a tunge as mo men mought
understande it.’ Accordingly he set about translating it into
English, but before he had completed his task ‘the owner
importunately called for his boke. What was to be done?
Elyot was not one of those who, having discovered hidden
treasure are reluctant to admit others to share their good
fortune. On the contrary, his chief anxiety seems to have been
lest the Acts and Sentences, a mine of wisdom as it doubtless
appeared to him, should be lost to his fellow-countrymen,
or at most known only to himself and perhaps a few other
scholars. The same generous impulse had prompted him, as
we have already seen, to translate Zhe Doctrinal of Princes.
Another and still stronger motive induced him to undertake
the present work. He desired to fulfil the promise made to
his readers in the pages of 7he Governour ten years pre-
viously. ‘Hauing this boke’ (14. the one lent to him by the
gentleman of Naples) in my hande, I remembred that in my
boke named The Gouernour I promised to write a boke of
the forme of good gouernance.* And for as moch as in this

* He alludes probably to his statement in Vol. I. p. 24.

cliv LIFE OF ELYOT.

boke (ze. the one lent to him) was expressed of gouernance
so perfite an ymage, I supposed that I shuld sufficiently dis-
charge my selfe of my promise if I dyd nowe publishe this
boke, whiche (except I be moche deceyued) shall minister to
the wyse readars both pleasure and profite.’ Inasmuch how-
ever as the translation of the Greek MS. was incomplete and
insufficient to form a volume by itself, Elyot determined to
supply what was needed from other sources. ‘I was con-
strained to leue some part of the wark untranslated ; which I
made up, as welle as I coulde, with somme other Autours as
wel latines as grekis,’ Can anything be more ingenuous than
this admission? So far from claiming for his book the merit
of being a continuous and complete translation (as Wotton
assumes that he did), the author informs his readers at the
outset in as plain language as possible that it is ‘made up,’ in
other words, that it has no pretensions to any other character
than that of a compilation. Moreover, at a still earlier stage,
viz. in the title-page, he had called attention to the fact that
it was ‘compiled. That after reading the simple narrative
in the Preface, Wotton should have deemed it necessary to
warn the reader against the imposition which he supposed
Elyot to have attempted is indeed surprising. But the singu-
lar obtuseness which prevented the author of the History of
Rome from comprehending the true state of the case, and the’
misdirected energy he exhibited in combating a fallacy created
by his own too fertile imagination, excite our astonishment
almost in an equal degree. .
To us it seems that even apart from Elyot’s own state-
ment, than which nothing can be more explicit, the internal
evidence of the book itself is conclusive as to its real charac-
ter. This evidence may be conveniently arranged under the
following heads: 1st. The marginal references, 2nd. The

LIFE OF ELYOTY. clv

translated passages. 3rd. The style and scope of the whole
work.

And first, as to the references in the margin to original
authorities. In Chapter 111. the reader is referred to Herodian,
cap. 5. In Chapter V. the words ‘ Ave, Alexander, in the
margin clearly indicate, that the phrase ‘ Be glad, Alexander,’
in the text was a literal translation of that used by Lampri-
dius.* In Chapter VII. the quotation ‘Quem metuunt oderunt,
et quem odiunt perisse expetunt,’ referred to Ennius, was
obviously borrowed by Elyot from. Cicero,” who attributes the
verse ‘Quem metuunt, oderunt ; quem quisque odit, periisse
expetit, to that ancient poet. In Chapter XI. there is a mar-
ginal reference to Lampridius. In Chapter XXIV. the Latin
word mulsum is given in the margin as the equivalent of the
word ‘methe’ used in the text. On the other hand, when Elyot
is translating from an original Greek document his marginal
reference is in the Greek character, and hence the phrase εὖ
πράττειν already mentioned denotes that it is the exact
equivalent of the phrase ‘well to doo’ in the text. In Chapter
X XIX. there are two more marginal references to Lampridius.

Secondly, as to the translated passages. In Chapter XVI.
‘The publyke weale giueth to you right harty thankes’ is ob-
viously a literal translation of Gratias tibi agit Respublica, the
phrase attributed to the Emperor by Lampridius. Again,
‘ With fume shal he dy that fumes hath sold,’ in Chapter XIV.
represents the Latin Fumo punttur qui vendidit fumum4 On
the other hand, the ‘ sentences’ quoted in Chapter XXV. might
very well be translations from the Greek and savour too much
of orthodoxy to have been written by a pagan. Part of a
speech put into the mouth of the Emperor may be taken as

® Hist. August, tom, 1, p. 907, ed. 1671. >» De Off. lib. ii. cap. 7.
* See Hist, Aug. tom. i. p. 936. 4 Ubi supra, Ὁ. 949,

εἶν! LIFE OF ELYOT.

an example of what we mean. ‘That he was moche lasse
than his maister Chryste, whiche rode but one daye in his lyfe,
and that was on asely asse mare. Wherfore he wold not
ryde except he were sycke or decrepite, so that his leggis
mought not serue him to go.’ Soalso the following : ‘ Eucolpius
wryteth that on a tyme he sayd to him and to Philip his
bondeman, I perceyue ye do wonder at the lernynge of
Origene, wherby ye be induced to imbrace the christiane pro-
fession. Trewely the humilitie and charytie of the chrysten
people whiche I haue herde of and do dayly beholde doo
moche more stere me to beleue that theyr Chryste is god
than the residue of all his perswasion, And on a tyme whan
two chrysten men contended proudely together and they
accused eche other of spekynge reprochefull wordes of the
Emperour, he called them before hym and prohibited them to
name themselfes christen men, saying, Your pryde and malyce
do declare that ye be not the folowers of hym whome ye
professe. Wherfore, thoughe ye fynde lacke in me, the whiche
I wyll gladly amende, yet wyll I not lette you agaynste ius-
tyce reproue by your actes hym whose lyfe and doctrine ye
all doo affirme to be uncorrupted and without any lacke.
Whiche wordes being ones sprad amonge the christen men
in the citie of Rome,it made them all afterwarde more cir-
cumspecte, and in humilitie and charitie to be the more
constante. Now it is quite conceivable that these and other
similar passages may have been translated by Elyot from a
Greek MS. fabricated by some early Christian writer, at the
time possibly when the Arian controversy was agitating the
schools of Alexandria. Again, in Chapter X XVI. the author,
speaking of Alexander’s wife, says, ‘Eucolpius wyll not be
knowen that he had any moo wyues, but Lampridius useth
the authoritie of one Desippus, who sayth that Alexander

a

LIFE OF ELYOT. clvii

had an nother wyfe, who was doughter of oone Martianus.
But whan it was founde that he wolde haue slayne themperour
by treason, he was put to deth, and his doughter separate from
the Emperour.’ Now this is almost a literal translation of the
following passage in Lampridius: ‘Dexippus dixit uxorem eum
cujusdam Martiani filiam duxisse, eundemque ab eo Cesarem
nuncupatum. Verum quum vellet insidiis occidere Alexan-
drum Martianus, detecta factione, et ipsum interemptum, et
uxorem abjectam.’* It is easy to understand that the author
of the Greek MS., presumably a convert to Christianity, would
not allow that ‘the good’ Alexander had more than one wife.
Elyot goes on to say, ‘Herodianus affyrmeth that all that was
done by the malyce of Mammea, the emperours mother, with-
out other cause, only bycause she coulde not susteyne hir
sonnes wyfe to be called Augusta, and therfore she caused her
to be exyled into Affrica, and all the landes and goodes of
her father Mammea toke and conuerted unto hir owne profite.’
Now let us compare this with Herodian’s own language:
"Hydyeto δ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ γυναῖκα τῶν εὐπατριδῶν, ἣν συνοικοῦσαν
καὶ ἀγαπωμένην μετὰ ταῦτα τῶν βασιλείων ἐδίωξεν" ἐνυ-
βρίζουσά τε καὶ βασίλισσα εἶναι θέλουσα μόνη, φθονοῦσά
τε τῆς προσηγορίας ἐκείνῃ, εἰς τοσοῦτον προεχώρησεν
ὕβρεως ὧς τὸν πατέρα τῆς κόρης, καίτοι ὑπ᾽ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου
γαμβροῦ ὄντος πάνυ τιμώμενον, μὴ φέροντα τὴν Μαμμαίαν
ἐνυβρίζουσαν αὑτῷ τε καὶ τῇ θυγατρὶ αὑτοῦ, φυγεῖν εἰς τὸ
στρατόπεδον, τῷ μὲν ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ χάριν εἰδότα ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἐτιμᾶτο,
τὴν δὲ Μαμμαίαν αἰτιώμενον ἐφ᾽ οἷς vBpifero. ἐκείνη δὲ
ἀγανακτήσασα αὐτόν τε ἀναιρεθῆναι ἐκέλευσε, καὶ τῆν
κόρην ἐκβληθεῖσαν τῶν βασιλείων εἰς Λιβύην ἐφυγάδευσε."

Thus we see that in both the above instances Elyot has
not merely given the substance of the authors, towhomhe refers,

* Hist. Aug. tom. i. p. 1002. » Hist. lib, vi. cap. 1. ed. Bekker, 1826.

eT eee

elviii LIFE OF ELYOT.

but has adhered more or less closely to the text of the originals.
Why then may we not give him equal credit when he refers
to the unknown writer whom he calls Eucolpius ?

Thirdly, The [mage of Governance resembles Elyot’s other
works, but more particularly Zhe Governour in this remark-
able feature, viz. that although it abounds in translations from
ancient authors, it is singularly deficient in exact references
to the original authorities. Some phrases, and even some
passages, which had already appeared in The Governour are
reproduced in The Image of Governance, as for instance
Cicero’s definition of faith as the foundation of justice, the
story of the self-devotion of Codrus, and many others. This
similarity helps to confirm the view already suggested of the
way in which certain passages in the earlier work had got
misplaced, and is more easily accounted for when we find that
some of the materials employed were common to both.

Within a very few years after Wotton’s critical analysis
of The Image of Governance, the authenticity of the latter
was discussed by a still more formidable opponent, Dr. |
Humphrey Hody, Regius Professor of Greek in the Univer-
sity of Oxford. This eminent scholar, in his treatise on the
Septuagint, combated the notion that the Greek version was
undertaken at the command of Ptolemy Philadelphus, King
of Egypt. This tradition, which had been handed down from
the earliest times by various patristic authorities, such as
Tertullian,? Eusebius,® Epiphanius,*° Clemens of Alexandria,‘
Cyril,° and Josephus, is thus referred to by Elyot. ‘Who
euer kept his countrey in suche a quietnesse and made it so
ryche as dyd Salomon kynge of the Hebrewes? Whyche as

* Apolog. cap. xviii. > Prepar. Evang. lib. viii. cap. 2.
© Liber de Mens. et Pond. cap. xi. ἃ Stromatum, lib. i. cap. 22.
© Contra Fulian, lib. i. * Antiqg, Fud lib. xii. cap. 2.

LIFE OF ELYOT. clix

it is founden in their hystories translated into greke by the
commaundement of Ptholome called Philadelphus, kyng of
Egypte, was soo great a philosopher that he dysputed of ail
-thynges naturall and supernatural], and for his wonderfulle
knowlege there came to here hym out of all partes of the
worlde men and women, beynge at that tyme in moste re-
putation of Iernynge.’ The passage we have quoted occurs
in achapter (XXXIV.), which is headed, ‘The moste noble
aunswere of Alexander made to Alphenus concernynge the
disablynge of Sextilius Rufus in his absence.’ Now it is
evident that the whole of this chapter is ‘made up,’ for at the
very commencement there is a marginal reference to Lampri-
dius. Hody, however, like Wotton, chose to disregard the
author’s own explanation, and to assume that Elyot had re-
presented the whole speech as resting on the authority of
Encolpius. ‘Non omiserim hoc loco,’ says Hody, ‘Alexandrum
Severum Romanorum Imp. in oratione quadam apud En-
colpii historiam illius vite testimonium suum - perhibere
Ptolemzi Philadelphi jussu confectam fuisse versionem. At
quis Encolpius iste apud quem oratio hec extat? Historia
ejus quam citamus prorsus ignota est viris literatis, neque
multis inter nostrates, quorum lingua sola habetur, nota, forsan
uni tantum aut alteri, Ex Greco vero in sermonem Angli-
canum translata est (si ipsi titulo fides) 4 Thoma Elyoto
Medico, et edita anno 1549." In these remarks Hody un-
consciously affords a capital proof of the absolute ignorance
with respect to Elyot’s life and services which prevailed even
among the most distinguished men of letters in the eighteenth
century. The Regius Professor was ready to believe that
Elyot had intended wilfully to mislead the public. It was
not a subject for regret therefore that an acquaintance with

* De Bibliorum textibus, p. 108, ed. 1705.

clx LIFE OF ELYOT.

this fiction would be confined to English readers. ‘Sed non
est cur doleant viri eruditi lingua solum Anglicana historiam
istam extare. Quamvis enim ex Lampridio appareat extitisse
olim historiam vite Alexandri Severi ab Encolpio scriptam,
tamen fidem dederim non illius hance esse, sed ab aliquo
Christiano ejus nomini suppositam. Neque orationes que in
ea multe habentur ex codice Graco converse sunt, sed ab ipso
(crede mihi) Elyoto composite. Scio ego hominis ingenium et
orationes confingendi morem ex aliis ejus scriptis.’ And yet,
notwithstanding this last admission, Hody could describe the
author of Zhe Governour as a Doctor, and persuade himself
that the man whose whole life had been devoted to the service
of the public weal was capable of perpetrating a deliberate
fraud. ‘Imo totum librum ab ipso Elyoto compositum fuisse
mihi ego facile persuadeo, quamvis preetendat a nobili quodam
Neapolitano exemplar Greecum se mutuo accepisse.’ In ar-
riving at the conclusion that Zhe Image of Governance was
Elyot’s own composition Dr. Hody had been anticipated
by Bale 150 years previously, for the latter, dividing Elyot’s
works into two classes, compositions and translations, had
included it among the former. It by no means follows, how-
ever, that Bale had anticipated Hody’s opinion as to the
author’s statement about the loan of the Greek book. Con-
sidering that Bale was by no means unduly biassed in favour
of Elyot, regarding him as ‘veteri exczecatus pappismo,’ he.
would hardly have failed to stigmatise this as a falsehood if it
had appeared so to him. Nor, on the other hand, is it ‘very
probable,’ as Wotton has suggested, ‘ that the public believed
the book to be spurious at that time,’ 2.5. when it first appeared.
On the contrary, although in common with all Elyot’s other
works The Image of Governance no doubt enjoyed much
sreater popularity in the sixteenth than in the succeeding cen-

WY

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxi

tury, it does not seem to have occurred to any one to throw
suspicion upon it until Wotton himself did soin 1701. It is
now nearly 200 years since the author of the History of Rome

first assailed a reputation, which up to that time had remained

unsullied. During the period which has thus elapsed no one
has thought fit to re-open the question. We have however
found ourselves compelled to do so,and have endeavoured to the
best of our ability to vindicate Elyot’s character for truthful-
ness and honesty. If we have succeeded in doing so, we may
hope that no one will again be found to say of one of the
earliest and most indefatigable of English scholars that ‘he
justly passes for an impostor.’

In connection with our present subject it may not be
out of place to call attention to the fact that Lipenius,
in his catalogue of works on jurisprudence, mentions one
entitled, Aur. Alex. Severt Imperatoris Axtomata porttica
et ethica item rescripta commentario Alex. Chassanei illus-
trata, published at Paris in 1635.* It would be interesting
to compare this with the Acts and Sentences, but unfortu-
nately it appears to be even a greater bibliographical rarity
than the latter, and is not noticed even by Brunet or
Quérard. Of the commentator Alexandre Chasseneux or
Chassanzus we know nothing more than that he was a French
jurisconsult and philologer, and for this scanty information we
are indebted, not to his own countrymen, but to the re-
searches of two Germans, Saxius,” and Jécher.°

Having disposed of the charge made against Elyot of
having falsely pretended that Zhe Image of Governance was
one entire translation of an original work in Greek, we

* Bibliotheca Furidica, tom. i. p. 103, ed. 1757.
> Onomast, Liter. pars iv. p. 229, ed. 1782,
* Gelehrten-Lexicon, theil i. col, 1850, ed, 1750.

k

cl xii LIFE OF ELYOT.

may observe that to readers of the present day the great
interest of the work is really concentrated in the Preface,
in which the author gives the titles of all the books pre-
viously written by him with a short descriptive notice of
each. We learn also that Elyot, anticipating the fate of
too many men of letters since his day, had not found his
publications remunerative. ‘Yet am I not ignoraunt, he
says, ‘that diuerse there be which do not thankfully esteme
my labours, dispraysinge my studies asvayne and unprofitable,
sayinge in derision that I haue nothing wonne therby, but
the name onely of a maker of bokes, and that I sette the
trees but the printer eateth the fruites. In dede al though
disdaine and enuy do cause them to speke it, yet will I not
deny but that they sayetruly. For yf I wold haue employed
my study about the increace of my priuate commodity which
I haue spent in wrytinge of bokes for others necessity, few
men doubt (I suppose) that do knowe me, but that I shuld
haue attayned or this tyme to haue ben moche more welthy
and in respect of the worlde ina more estimation. But to
excuse me of foly, I will professe without arrogaunce that
whan I consydered that kunninge contynueth whan fortune
flytteth, hauinge also rynging alway in myn eare the terrible .
checke that the good maister in the gospell gaue to his ydel
seruaunte for hidinge his money in a clowte and not disposinge
it for his maisters aduantage, those two wordes, Serve nequam,
so sterid my spirites that it caused me to take more regarde
to my last rekning than to any riches or worldly promotion.
And all thoughe I do neither dyspute nor expounde holy
scripture yet in suche warkes as I haue and intend to sette
forth, my poore talent shall be, God willinge, in such wise
bestowed that no mannes conscience shalbe therwith offended.
, ... And in none of these warkes I dare undertake a man

2,

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxiii

shall finde any sentence against the commandmentes of god,
the trewe catholyke faythe, or occasion to stere men to wanton
deuises. Wherfore I trust unto god myn accompt shall of
hym be fauorably accepted, all though some ingrate persons
with ille reporte or mockes requite yl my labours,’ Elyot
then alludes to a saying, that ‘the greatest clerks are not
the wisest men,’ with which scholars were at that time fre-
quently taunted, in order to demonstrate its absurdity. ‘ First
the said prouerb semeth by him which lacked lerninge to be
deuised, sens that he preferrith ignorance before kunninge,
whiche arrogance declared hym to bea very foole and unwitty,
consideringe that by knowlege most chiefly a man excelleth
al other mortall creatures and therby is moste like unto god.
And lerninge is none other thinge but an aggregation of many
mens sentences and actes to the augmentation of knowlege.
And if som lerned men do neglect their temporal commodities
it is for one of these causes, eyther by cause they haue ben so
desirouse of knowlege, and in respect therof estemed so lytle
all other pleasures that they thought the tyme all to lytle
which they dyd spend in it, holdinge themselfes with that
which serued for natures necessitie right wel contented ihe
And for the confutation of that pestiferous opinion that gret
lerned men be unapt to the ministration of thinges of waighty
importaunce, this shalbe sufficient. First, as I late said, lerning
is the augmentation of knowlege, which the more that it is
the more maye be perceiued what shalbe most necessary in
thinges which happen in consultation, and the more that it is
perceyued, the better and more aptly may it be ministred and
executed. Examples we haue of Moyses, who beinge ex-
cellently lerned in the most dyffuse doctrines of the
Egyptians and Ethiopians was by almighty god chosen to

guide and rule his people which were innumerable and moste
k2

clxiv LIFE OF ELYOT.

froward of nature ; and with what wonderfull wisedome and
pacience dyd he gouerne them by the space of xl yeres, beinge
without any cities, townes, or any certain possessions. Who
were better leders of armies than great Alexander, Scipio,
Lucullus, and Cesar, whiche were men al of great lerning ?
Who better handled matters of waighty importaunce than
Octauian called Augustus, Hadrian, Marcus Antoninus, Alex-
ander Seuerus, and of late yeres Carolus Magnus, al emperours
of Rome and men very studiouse in all noble sciences? Whan
was there a better consul than Tully, or a better senator than
Cato called Uticensis? And to retourne home to our owne
countray, and wherof we our selfes may be witnesses, howe
moche hath it profited unto this realme that it nowe hath a
kynge, our souerayne lorde kyng Henry theyght, exactly well
lerned? Hath not he therby onely sifted out detestable
heresies late mingled amonge the corne of his faythfull subiectes
and caused moche of the chaffe to be throwen in the fyre ?
Also hipocrisy and vayne superstition to be cleane banysshed ?
Wherof I doubt not but that there shalbe, or it be longe, a
more ample remembrance, to his most noble and immortal
renome. This well considered, let men ceasse their sayde
foolishe opinion and holde them content with their owne ig-
norance. And for my part, say what they liste, I wil during
my life be in this wise occupied in bestowing my talent,
beinge satisfied with the contentynge of suche men as ye be,*
adourned with vertue, the most preciouse garment of very
nobylitie.’ -

The Image of Governance was reprinted twice by Berthe-
let, viz. in 1544 and 1549, and by William Seres in 1556.

About this time Elyot acquired some more property in
Cambridgeshire, viz. the manors of Carleton and Willingham

* /.e. the nobility of England,

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxv

near Newmarket, which had formerly belonged to his old
friend Thomas Cromwell from whom he had purchased them.
In consequence of Cromwell’s attainder it had been impossible
for Elyot to get seisin of these manors, for though the in-
denture of bargain and sale was dated March 14, 1540, the
treasons with which Cromwell was charged were alleged to
have been committed in the preceding year. The attainder
therefore having a retrospective effect, the property sold to
Elyot passed with Cromwell’s other possessions into the hands
of the Crown, and it therefore became necessary for Elyot to
obtain a re-grant from the latter. This was accordingly
effected by letters patent dated August 4, 1540. It is curious
that though Fuller enumerates Cromwell amongst the Sheriffs
of Cambridgeshire he professes himself ‘at a perfect loss’ to
understand why his name should be on the Roll. ‘No Cromwell
Thomas’ he says, ‘can I find at this time in this county, and
can hardly suspect him to be the Cromwell of that age,
because only additioned Avmiger....besides the impro-
bability that he would condescend to such an office, having no
interest I ever met with in Cambridgeshire, though (which
may signifie somewhat) he was at this time Chancellor of
the University of Cambridge.”* It is certain however that
in 1535 Cromwell was High Steward of the University ; ἢ and
several letters which passed between him and the Corporation
have been printed by Mr. Cooper. It is possible therefore
that in the following year he may have been nominated Sheriff,
and this is rendered more probable by the fact that he un-
doubtedly possessed property in the county.

There is a translation from Plutarch, entitled Howe one
may take profite of his enmyes, the date of which is un-

* Worthies of England, p. 168, ed. 1662.
> Annals of Cambridge, vol. i. p. 371.

clxvi LIFE OF ELYOT.

certain. No author’s name appears in the copy in the
British Museum Library, but it has always been attributed to
Elyot.* With this treatise is joined another of The Maner
to chose and cherysshe a frende. The reason for this addition
is thus stated by the author ‘To fylle up the padges that els
wold haue ben voide, I thought it shuld nother hurt nor
displese to adde hereunto a fewe sayenges, howe a man shulde
chose and cherysshe a frende” The ‘sayings’ are chiefly
taken from various classical authors. These two short pieces
are not mentioned by Elyot when enumerating the various
works he had already written in the preface to The Image of
Governance. They were subsequently reprinted by Berthelet
in a tiny volume, together with The Table of Cebes, which
was a translation made by Sir Francis, the brother of Sir
Anthony Pointz.

In 1542 Sir Thomas Elyot was elected M.P. for the
borough of Cambridge, his colleague being Mr. Robert
Chapman. For this information we are indebted to Browne
Willis, who gives Elyot’s name in his list of the Members of
the Parliament held at Westminster 32 Hen. VIII.» In the
Return, however, of the names of all Members of Parliament
from the earliest times, recently printed by order of the
House of Commons, the Return for the borough of Cambridge
for the year above mentioned is left blank. Unless therefore
the record itself has disappeared since the publication of
Notitia Parliamentaria, we must conclude that the author
of that work had access to some other source of information
which is now unknown,

In November 1544 Elyot was for the second time called
upon to serve the office of Sheriff of the combined counties

* Ames, Zyf. Ant. vol, iii. p. 347, note, ed. 1816.
» Not. Parl. vol. i. p. 190.

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxvii

of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire." It was during his
tenure of office that he wrote a little treatise called A Pre-
servative agaynste Deth. The title seems peculiarly appro-
priate when we consider that this was the last book which
Elyot ever wrote. It is easy to imagine that the author’s
thoughts were at this time wholly turned in one direction, the
approaching end of his own labours, for which his advancing
years must have prepared him.

Elyot dedicated this book which was published on
July 2, 1545, ‘to his worshypfull frende syr Edwarde North,
knight, chancellour of-the court of the augmentacions
of the reuenues of the kinges croune.’ The Court of Aug-
mentations had been erected some ten years previously by
27 Hen. VIII. cap. 27, for the purpose of collecting and ad-
ministering the revenues of the suppressed monasteries. It
consisted of a chancellor, a treasurer, an attorney and
solicitor, ten auditors, seventeen receivers, a clerk, an usher,
and a messenger. Sir Edward North was treasurer, and after-
wards chancellor of the new court, and was himself apparently
one of the first to derive advantage from the arbitrary pro-
ceedings which were adopted. Strype tells us that when the
Charter House was dissolved, ‘the house was given to Sir
Edward North, who there built himself a fair dwelling, and
made a parlour of the church; pulling down most of the
cloisters.’° He received other marks of royal favour, for his
name appears in the list of ‘aiders’ to the executors of the
King’s will.4 He was one of the Council of Edward VI.° and
was subsequently raised to the peerage by the title of Lord

* Fuller, Worthies of England, p. 166, ed. 1662.

» Collins, Peerage, vol. iv. p. 455, ed. 1812.
© Eccles. Mem. vol. i. pt. 1, p. 428, ed. 1822.
ἃ bid. vol. ii. pt. 1, p. 19.

* Ibid. vol. 11, pt. 2, p. 160.

elxviili LIFE OF ELYOT.

North of Kirtling.* Catlage, Carteleigh, or Kirtling, as it is
now called, is a parish in Cambridgeshire, about five miles
south of Newmarket, and a short distance only from Carleton.
The Manor of Kirtling had been purchased (probably of the
Warwick family) by Sir Edward North,” who was therefore a
near neighbour of Sir Thomas Elyot. Moreover he was at
one time actually in. possession of the Manor of Carleton
Magna, which Elyot subsequently acquired by purchase
from Cromwell as already mentioned. Elyot, having
himself been employed in the survey of the monasteries,
would naturally have been brought in contact with the
principal officer of the court which had special jurisdiction
in such matters; but inasmuch as Sir Edward North
was M.P. for the county in the same year (1542) that Sir
Thomas Elyot represented the town of Cambridge,‘ and that
these two knights were adjoining landowners, we can easily
imagine that they were very intimately acquainted.

Elyot’s reasons for writing The Preservative agaynste Deth,
and for dedicating it to his friend may be gathered from the
Preface. ‘The lyttel boke whyche I sent to you at the be-
gynnynge of lent last passed, a smal requitall of your
gentyll benefites, I haue caused nowe to be printed, as well
for a testimonie of the herty loue whiche I doo beare toward
you, and that beinge printed it maie the lengar endure with
you and others, as also that my priuate gyft maie be bene-
ficiall to many men whiche without disdaine or enuy will
oftentymes reade it. I knowe well some men will thinke
and saie also perchaunce, that I spende my witte vainely, for

* Strype, Eccles. Mem. vol. iii, pt. 2, p. 159, where he is styled ‘ baron of
Carteleigh.’ Fuller, on the other hand, calls it Catlidge.

> Lyson’s Cambridgeshire, p. 224.

* Lbid. p. 159.

4 Willis, Mot. Pari. vol. i. p. 190, and vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 4.

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxix

it is the office of priestes for to preache, and that it dothe not
perteine to a knyght, muche lesse to a sheriffe, to write, spe-
cially of suche holy mattiers. Also that in writyng to you,
whiche are continually occupied about the kynges maiesties
busynesse, I lose all my labour. Considering that beside the
tymes of meale and of slepe (whiche also be littell and scarse,
as I well haue perceyued) there remaineth with you none
oportunitie to reade any bokes of englyshe or latin. Truely
I confesse that priestes ought to preache, and that it is their
propre office.. And yet no christen man is excluded to gyue
good counsaile in that whiche pertayneth to the lawes and
commandementes of almighty god. And he that can do it,
and will not (though he be no priest), I dout not but he shall
make a straite reknyng for hydynge his talent. A knyght
hath receiued that honour not onely to defende with the
swerde Christis faithe and his propre countrey agaynst them
whiche impugneth the one or inuadeth the other, but also,
and that most chiefly by the meane of his dignitie (if that
be imploied where it shuld be, and estemed as it ought to be),
he shuld more effectually with his learnyng and witte assayle
vice and errour, moste pernicious ennemies to christen men,
hauinge therunto for his sworde and speare his tunge and his
penne. And where for the more reuerence due to the order
of priesthode it is most congruent and fittyng that preaching
in commune assembles be reserued onely to that ministracion,
yet where a knyght or other man, not being of a lite estima-
cion, hath lernyng ioyned with moderate discrecion, yf he,
being zelouse of vertue and meued only by charitie, wolde
fayne haue other men to remembre their state and condicion,
and according to their dueties to loue god and to feare his
terrible sentence, what lawe or raison should lette hym with
an humble spirite and uncorrupted intent to set furth in

clxx LIFE OF ELYOT.

writing or print that whiche shalbe commodious to many
men? And if he be a knight or in other authoritie (for the
rarenesse of learnynge founden in suche men), the warke shal
be muche the better imbraced, and of the moo men desyred.
Also, for asmuche as I am a sheriffe, I think my selfe the more
bounden to bee thus occupied. For sens it pertaineth to
myn office, and also the lawes of this realme doo compell me,
to punishe transgressours, howe muche more is it my duetie
to doo the best that I can by all studye and meanes to with-
drawe men from transgressing the lawes and commaundementes
of god, whiche beinge diligently and truely obserued, the
occasions of transgressyng of temporall lawes should be
clerely excluded? Moreouer, as often as I doo consyder the
temporall punyshementes and doo abhorre the sharpenesse
of theim, I do reuolue in my mynde what horrible peynes
are prepared for theim whome the sonne of god shall con-
demne at his generall iugement, to the whiche temporall
tormentes being compared doo seme but a shadow. Here
begynne I to feare, not for my selfe onely, but alsoo for other,
which either in transgressing goddis lawes or neglectynge
our dueties do prouoke his wrath daily by displesyng hym.
Wherfore aswel for myn owne erudicion as for the remem-
brance of other men I haue gathered togither out of holy
scripture this litle treatise, whiche often tymes radde and kept
in remembraunce shall be a preseruatiue against death euer-
lasting. And as touching your oportunitie in the receiuyng
it, althoughe your ministracion be necessary, yet remembre
the wordes whiche our sauiour Christ spake unto. Martha.
What I meane therby, by redyng and digestyng that place
whiche is in the tenthe chapitre-of Luke, ye shal easily per-
ceiue without an expositour. At the least waie, either by
day or by night, Martha shall finde oportunitie to sitte downe

mae

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxxi

by her sister, if not, she shall find but litle thanke for all her
good housewyfery. If Martha ministrynge unto Christ tem-
porally had no more thanke for hir labor, what thanke shal
we loke fore whiche alwaie bee occupied about thynges that
be worldly ? thereby seekyng onely our temporall commoditie.
But yet in our dayly exercise we maie oftentymes ioyne the
two systers togither, as well by secrete thankes gyuen to god
for his sundry benefittes as by frequent meditacion of our
laste daie. Wherunto we shall fynde occasion, as often as we
do here the bell ryng at the death or terrement of any man,
or here reported of pestilence or warre, thynkyng theim than
to be the trumpettes of death whiche do call us to reknyng.
And as touchynge the readyng of this litle woorke, if ye do
rede it in the masse while, for lacke of tyme more conuenient,
I dare undertake god will bee therwith nothyng offended ;
but ye being therwith stered the more deuoutly to serue hym,
he shall receyue it of you as a good praier, sens that medi-
tacion and praier be but one thing in their nature. And yet
meditacion is the more constant. For in praier the mynde is
oftentimes wandring and thinketh least on that whiche by
the tunge is expressed. In this wise dooinge, ye shall not
lacke oportunitie to reade ouer this boke, whiche shall not
seme longe unto suche as I thinke that ye be, that is to saie,
in whome witte ouerfloweth not grace but giueth place to her.’
Finally by readyng therof I trust unto god we bothe shall
receyue eche comforte of other, as well in this present worlde
as in the worlde to come, whiche is the perfection of amitie,
whiche many mo men haue writen of than haue truely used as
they should doo. Thus I committe you to god, whom I moste
hertily praie to keepe you alwaie in his fauour long to continue.’
This little book, which consists chiefly of a collection of
passages from Scripture and the Fathers, is not mentioned by

clxxii LIFE OF ELYOT.

Ames and is therefore presumably very scarce, but a copy in
excellent preservation is in the British Museum Library.
Bale does not include it in his list of Elyot’s works, in
the edition of the Scriptores Britannia published in 1557.
On the other hand, that list includes some which have not
come down to us, or at least have not been attributed to
Elyot. Among these Bale enumerates one entitled De rebus
Angle memorabilibus. That Elyot contemplated publishing
such a work is beyond all doubt. For Ascham in his Toro-
philus says: ‘Now, sir, by my iudgement the artillarie of
England farre excedeth all other realmes ; but yet one thing
I doubt, and longe haue surely in that point doubted, when
or by whom shotyng was first brought in to Englande, and
for the same purpose, as I was ones in companye with syr
Thomas Eliot, knight, which surelie for his lerning in all
kynde of knowlege bringeth much worshyp to all the nobilite
of Englande, I was so bould to aske hym yf he at any tyme
had marked any thing as concernynge the bryngynge in of
shootynge in to Englande ; he aunswered me gentlye agayne
that he had a worcke in hand which he nameth De rebus
memorabilibus Anglia, which I trust we shal se in print
shortlye, and for the accomplyshmente of that boke he had
read and perused ouer many olde monumentes of Englande,
and in sekyng for that purpose he marked this of shootynge
in an excedyng olde cronicle, the which had no name, that
what tyme as the Saxons came first into this realme in kyng
Vortigers dayes, when they had bene here a whyle, and at
last began to faull out with the Brittons, they troubled and
subdewed the Brittons wyth nothynge so much as with theyr
bowe and shaftes, whiche wepon beynge straunge and not sene
here before was wonderfull terrible unto them, and this
beginninge I can thynke verie wel to be true.’* |
* Toxophilus, fo. 39, ed. 1545.

LIFE OF ELYOT. -elxxiii

Now it appears from this that when Ascham wrote,
Elyot’s book was then in hand, and Ascham hoped to see it
printed shortly. We know that the Zoxophilus was in the
_ press in the summer of 1544, and that Ascham expected that
_ it would be published before the King started on his expedition
to Boulogne. For in a letter to Sir William Paget, he says:
‘Scripsi etiam librum ad Regiam Majestatem, guz nunc sub
prelo est, de re Sagittarid..... Hic libellus, ut spero, cum
apparebit in lucem, guod fiet, Deo volente, ante Regis pro-
fectionem, nec obscurum amoris mei in patriam signum nec
mediocris mez eruditionis mediocre testimonium erit.* The
King started from Dover, and ‘toke shippinge towards Calleys,’
on July 14, 1544." Ascham’s letter was therefore probably
written in the month of June preceding.

We may take it as a fact, then, that in the spring of 1544,
Elyot had almost completed writing a book, the title of which
he had communicated to Ascham, and which the latter was
expecting shortly to see in print. Here a most important
question arises, Was this book ever published? At first sight
Ascham’s evidence seems to be confirmed by that of Bale, but
when we consider that no such work is mentioned in the first
edition of the Scriptores Britannie published in 1548, it is
at least an open question whether Bale did not insert the title
in his second edition on the authority of the Zoxophilus. It
is however, curious that he mentions immediately afterwards
‘Opus aliud imperfectum,’ and does not include in his list the
Preservative agaynst Deth. Al\though. Pits attributes to Elyot
a work with the same title, De rebus Angle memorabilibus, we
cannot fairly attach any additional weight to this circumstance,
inasmuch as Pits undoubtedly copied from Bale. After what

® Elstob, Aschami Epistole, p. 97, ed. 1703.
> Rymer, Fwd. vol. xv. p. 52.

clxxiv LIFE OF ELYOT.

has been stated, the reader will hardly be surprised to learn
that no work of Elyot’s bearing this title has come down to
us. Are we, however, justified in assuming that no such book
was ever printed? From Ascham’s description of the work
it would seem to have been just such a one as Elyot might
have been expected to write, inasmuch as his employment in
the survey of monasteries must have afforded him unusual
facilities for making himself acquainted with the contents of
their libraries, consisting chiefly of old chronicles. We have
further Ascham’s positive assertion, founded upon Elyot’s own
statement, that the latter had such a work actually ‘in hand’
in 1544. Now when we consider the nature of the work, and
the physical condition of the author, we can have little
difficulty in imagining that the former might occupy a longer
time than was originally anticipated, and that the delay and
ultimate postponement of the publication, were due solely to
the mortal sickness of the latter.

_In the eighteenth century the actual publication of this
book seems to have been assumed. The Bishop of Carlisle
tells us that Elyot ‘left behind him a learned and judicious
Commentary de rebus memorabilibus Anglig”* When how-
ever he goes on to inform us that ‘this work gain’d him the
repute of a most accomplish’d antiquary in the opinion of
J. Leland, who is almost immoderate in his praises,’ we are
not without a suspicion that the worthy Bishop was labouring
under some misapprehension, and confounding Ascham with
Leland. The passage referred to as his authority for this
statement, viz., the verses addressed to Elyot by Leland in
his Excomia illustrium virorum, does not in any way support
Dr. Nicolson’s assertion.

The fate of Elyot’s contribution to the history of England
* Nicolson, Amel. Hist. Lib. p, 3, ed. 1736.

LIFE OF ELYOT. «Οἶχχν

is at present a mystery. If it was nearly finished in 1544, it
seems impossible to say that it could not have been published
in the author’s lifetime, when we remember that the Preserva-
tive agaynst Deth was written in the spring of 1545, and
published in the summer of that year. On the other hand it
might very well be that, though Elyot was in 1544-45 capable
of composing a short treatise on a devotional subject, his
state of health would not permit him to prosecute the
laborious researches necessary for the completion of such a
work as that mentioned by Ascham. What, however, seems
most probable is that the book remained still in MS. at Elyot’s
death, and that some antiquary obtained possession of it, and
perhaps incorporated it in some work of his own.* Whether
this long-lost treatise will ever be recovered is a speculative
question which is not without interest to men of letters,
though its discovery would probably not throw any very new
light upon the early history of this country. One thing,
however, is certain; we could better have spared some other
productions of the same period which have come down to us

* It seems not at all unlikely that in the compilation of the Description of
Britain and England, prefixed to Holinshed’s Chronicle, Elyot’s MSS. may have
been employed. As some confirmation, however slight, of the theory advanced
above, we may remark that in a MS. belonging to G. F. Wilbraham, Esq., of
Delamere House, co, Chester, examined by the Historical MSS. Commissioners,
one of the authors cited is ‘ Sir Thomas Elyot, his chronicle of the description of
Brittaine’ (Refort, vol. iv. p. 416). This of course may be an inaccurate cita-
tion, or it may, on the other hand, refer to the unknown De rebus memorabilibus
Anglie, under another name. The Chronologie of William Harrison, the author
of the Description of Britain, which had been supposed to be lost, was at length
discovered in Ireland, together with ‘a curious and terribly-corrected MS. of an
English work on Weights and Measures, Ilebrew, Greek, English, &c.,’ which
Mr. Furnivall assumed to be Harrison’s also. But possibly this last may have been
the MS. of Elyot’s table of Greek, Hebrew, &c., weights and measures which
is printed at the, end of the copy of his Dictionary, 1538, now in the British
Museum. See Harrison’s Descript. of England, p. v. ed. 1877, printed for the
New Shakespeare Society.

clxxvi LIFE OF ELYOT.

uninjured, but whose value, except as relics of the age, is very
slight.

It has been said that Elyot wrote many other works,
besides those which we have enumerated.* If he did, they
have either altogether perished, or are so exceedingly scarce,
that they have escaped the notice of the most acute biblio-
graphers. This, however, we must at least admit, that some
passages in his extant works indicate an intention on the part
of the author to treat of other subjects than those with which
his name is now associated.”

With the publication of A Preservative agaynste Deth Sir
Thomas Elyot’s career as a writer may be said to have closed.
On the assumption that he was born about 1490, and it is
hardly possible that we can assign a later period for his birth,
he would now have reached his fifty-fifth year. It is probable,
however, that he was at least ten years older. His constitution
had at no time been robust. We have already noticed his
own account of his sufferings, brought on by his assiduous
labours in the public service. In the. Castel of Helth he gives
us a still more graphic picture of himself in the character of an Ἶ
invalid. ‘I my selfe,’ he says, ‘was by the space of foure
yeres continually in this discrasy,’ (he is speaking of cold in
the head), ‘and was counsayled by dyvers phisitions to kepe
my hed warme and to use datrion piperion and such other hot
thinges as I haue rehersed ; at the last, felynge my selfe very
feeble and lackinge appetite and slepe, as I hapned to reade
the boke of Galene De temperamentis whiche treatith de in-

* Bale, for instance, after giving a list of his published works which corresponds
with one or two exceptions only with those given by modern bibliographers, says,
* Aliaque fecit multa.’ While Pits, whose catalogue is identical with Bale’s, adds,
Lt alia multa partim scripsit, partim transtulit.’

» See, for example, some passages in this book, and The Castel of Helth, 110.
iv. fo. 80 b, ed. 1541. .

LIFE OF ELVOT. clxxvii

equali temperaturéd, and afterwarde the vi boke De tuendd
Sanitate I perceyued that I had ben longe in anerrour. Wher-
fore first I dyd throwe away my quylted cappe and my other
~~ close bonettes, and onely dyd lye in a thynne coyfe, whiche I
haue euer sens used both wynter and somer, and ware a light
bonet of veluet only. Than made I oxymel after the doctrine of
Galen, sauynge that I boyled in the vynegar rootes of persely and
fenell with endyue, cichory, and betayne, and after that I hadde
taken it thre dayes continually, euery day thre sponesful in the
mornynge warme, than toke I of the same oxymell, wherein I
had infused or steapid one dramme of Agaryke and halfe a
dramme of fyne Reubarbe, the space of iii dayes and iii
nyghtes. Whyche I receyued in the mornynge, eatynge noo
meate vi houres after, and that but a lyttel brothe of a boyled
henne, wherof ensuyd viii stoles abundant of choler and fleume.
Soone after I slepte soundly and had good appetite to eate.
After supper I wolde eyther eate a fewe colyander sedes pre-
pared, or swalowe downe a litel fyne mastyx, and forbeare wyne
and dranke only ale, and that but lytell and stale and also
warmed. And sometyme in the morninge woulde take a
perfume of Storax Calamitg, and now and than I wolde put
in to my nosethrilles eyther a leafe of grene laurell or betaine,
or water of maiorame bruised, which caused the humour to
distill by my nosethrilles. And if I lacked storax, I toke for
a perfume the ryndes of olde rosemary and burned them, and
held my mouth ouer the fume closynge myne eyes; afterwarde
to comfort my stomake and make it strong, sometyme I wold
eate with my meat a litel white pepper grosse bruysed, some-
tyme Galens electuary made of the iuice of quinces called
Diacytonites, somtyme marmalade of quynces or a quynce
rosted. And by this diete I thanke almighty god, unto
whome onely be gyuen all ΕἼΗ, I was reduced to a better

clxxviil _ ΡῈ OF ELYOT.

state in my stomacke and head than I was xvi yeres before, as
it maye appere unto them whiche haue longe knowen me.’*

This improvement in health, however, had taken place a
good many years before the period of his life at which we
have now arrived.

But to the predisposition to disease arising from a natur-
ally ‘ cholerike humour’ was now superadded the infirmity
of age. The pen that had once been so busily employed
was now laid aside for ever. On March 26," 1546, he who
had wielded it so long and to such good purpose was called
away, not unprepared we may feel quite sure for the summons,
nor yet fearing the sound of the terrible trumpet.’

If not as fortunate in life as the two friends whom he had
seen raised to highest honour in the State, Elyot was far
happier in his end. To him it had been a melancholy retro-
spect to ‘consider daily how many men he had known, being
of years lusty, strong, and couragious, abounding in the gifts of
nature and fortune, how suddenly, above men’s expectation
and also their own, they had been attacked with death either
natural or violent, that is to say being either slain or put to
execution by laws.’° For himself no such terrible fate was
reserved. He had lived through troublous times, and had ex-
perienced without doubt many bitter pangs as he had seen
his friends summoned to take that fatal journey ‘ before that
they looked for death.’ Butthe same ‘ pure and constant faith,
which had already enabled him to ‘ bear up against all worldly
vexations and troubles, called the toys of fortune or the cranks
of the world,’ would, we may feel assured, sustain him ‘as well

® The Castel of Health, fol. 79, ed. 1541.

» According to Bale, who is followed by Pits, Wood, and others, he was buried
on March 25, but this must be a mistake,

¢ A Preservative agaynste deth,

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxxix

agaynste the mooste certayne sikenes and fynall dyssolution
of nature.’ *

Sir Thomas Elyot was buried in the church of Carleton,
the parish where he died and in which he had spent the latter
years of his life. Wood informs us that a monument was soon
after put over his grave.” This was still to be seen a hundred
years afterwards. For Layer, whose collections for Cambridge-
shire were written about 1632, gives the following account
of it. ‘In Ecclesia de Carleton. Upona large brasse is seene
the portratures of Sr... Elliott knight.and his wife, with these
armes quarterlie: 1 and 4, a Fesse int. two Barres gules
wavie; 2 and 3, ἃ chevron int. three Castles triple towered,
paled with two swordes in Saltire, points in cheife, int. four
flower de luces.’° This monument is not now in existence,
and there seems good reason to suppose that its destruction
is attributable to the indefatigable iconoclast William Dows-
ing, in which case it must have disappeared about ten years
after Layer had seen and described it. Dowsing’s journal for
Cambridgeshire has never been published,* but Mr. Cole must
have seen it, for writing of Carleton, on April 30, 1750, he
says: ‘Dowsing, in 1643 visiting this church, makes the
following entry in his journal: “Carleton cum Willingham,
March 22. Accrosse on the steeple promised to be taken
downe, and we brake diverse superstitious pictures.”® The
exact spot in the little Cambridgeshire church where Sir
Thomas Elyot’s remains were interred has long been

* Preface to A swete &c sermon of Saynt Ciprian.

» Athen. Oxon. vol. i. col. 152, ed. 1813. Oldys says, ‘having a handsome
monument over his grave.’ Arit, Lib. p. 261, ed. 1738.

© Cole’s MSS. No. 5819, fo. 62.

4 Only Dowsing’s journal for Suffolk has as yet been printed, but that for
Cambridgeshire would be no less interesting.

* Cole’s MSS. No. 5820, fo. 87.

12

clxxx LIFE OF ELYOT.

forgotten.* Thus by a singular coincidence, the same fate
overtook three different generations, and the last resting-places
of the three men who successively contributed to render the
name of Eliot famous are unknown to their descendants.

But though no inscription in brass or marble has survived to
show us where Sir Thomas Elyot lies, it might not unreasonably
have been supposed that his works would have furnished monu-
mentum care perennius. So far, however, is this from being
the case that, as we have already had occasion to point out,
comparatively few persons are acquainted with the writings
of one whom Strype called ‘one of the learnedest and wisest
men of this time.» We should, however, expect that the
memory of the author of 7e Governour, the friend of Wolsey,
of More, and of Cromwell, would at least be cherished by the
inhabitants of the parish with which he was so long connected.
But the indifference to which we have already alluded is
strikingly exemplified in the statement of the present
Rector of Carleton, whose family have possessed property
in the parish for many years, and who informed the Editor,
in answer to some inquiries, that ‘Sir Thomas Elyot’s name is
not known here.’

Elyot died intestate; having no children* he probably
thought it unnecessary to make a will. His widow, who
had been joint-tenant with her husband of the Cambridge-
shire estates, now enjoyed the whole as the survivor. She did
not, however, long retain the garb of widowhood, but married
for her second husband another Somersetshire man, Serjeant

* In Hamilton’s ational Gazetteer, published in 1868, in the description of the
parish of Carlton cum Willingham, it is stated that ‘the church contains a monu-
ment to Sir Thomas Elyot.’ An error which has been allowed to remain un-
corrected.

> Eccles, Mem. vol. i. pt. 1, p. 342, ed. 1822.

° There is no evidence whatever to support Wood’s statement that Sir Th omas
Elyot had three sons. See Athen. Oxon, vol. i. col. 481, ed. 1813.

LIFE OF ELVOT. clxxxi

James Dyer, who was M.P. for the county of Cambridge
during the whole of the short reign of Edward the Sixth.
Dyer was appointed a Judge of the Common Pleas in 1557,"
and three years afterwards his wife Lady Dyer, formerly
Lady Elyot, died and was buried at Great Staughton, in
Huntingdonshire, August 26, 1560.”

With the death of his widow, we might fairly bring our
notice of Elyot to a close ; but it happens that a most inte-
resting question involving the identity of the author of one of
the most celebrated books published in the reign of Elizabeth
arises in connection with the devolution of his property, upon
which it seems almost incumbent upon us to make some
further remarks.

Upon Elyot’s death an inquisition post mortem (printed in
the Appendix) was taken at Newmarket,in September 1546, by
which it was ascertained that Richard Puttenham, the eldest son
of Elyot’s sister Margery, was his next heir, and that this young
man was then twenty-six years of age. The family of Putten-
ham, who probably derived their name from the place where
they. lived, possessed the manors of Puttenham and Long
‘Marston, on the borders of Hertfordshire and Buckingham-
shire. Richard Puttenham had an.only brother George,° and
a sister Margery, married to Sir John Throckmorton, of
Feckenham, in Worcestershire.*

In 1550, Sir Thomas Elyot’s heir purchased from Richard
Hardy, citizen and merchant tailor of London, an estate at
Sherfield upon Loddon, in Hants,* and two years later he

* Foss, Fudges of England, vol. v. p. 482.

>» Wood, Athen. Oxon. vol. i. col. 482, ed. 1813. Another instance of Wood’s
inaccuracy may be noticed in the fact that on the same page he assigns three
different dates for Dyer’s burial and two for that of his wife.

© Chan. Proceed. Eliz. PP. 11, No. 49, P.R.O.

4 Nash, Hist. Worcest. vol. i. p. 440.

* Close Roll, 4 Ed. VI. No. 467, P.R.O.

clxxxii LIFE OF ELYOT.

sold to one Hugh Stewkeley his reversion to his uncle’s
estates in Carleton and Willingham, for the sum of 250/4

Richard Puttenham married Mary, the only daughter and
heiress of Sir William Warham, of Malshanger, near Basing-
stoke,” and had one child, a daughter, Anne, who married
previous to 1567 Francis Morris, of Coxwell, in Berkshire.°
George Puttenham, the brother, married Elizabeth, the widow
of William, second Lord Windsor, of Bradenham, in Bucks,
who according to Strype was ‘ buried very splendidly accord-
ing to his quality,’ 5 on August 29, 1558. Lady Windsor, who
was the daughter and heiress of Peter Coudray, of Herriard,
near Basingstoke, had been previously married to Richard
Paulet

Both the brothers seem to have made unhappy marriages,
and both were involved in perpetual litigation of a most
disastrous character. With their domestic troubles, however,
though these alone would furnish materials for a volume, we
are not concerned except as they help to elucidate one im-
portant question.

The Arte of English Poesie, first published in 15809, has, at
least in modern times, been generally attributed to George
Puttenham. Was this the brother of Richard, or did Richard
himself write it, or had each of the brothers, or neither of
them, a hand in its composition? It will appear that the
solution of all these questions is involved in the answer to
the inquiry who was the real author of The Arte of English
Poeste? It must not be forgotten. that even the printer,

* Close Roll, 6 Ed. VI. No. 481, P.R.O.

> Chan, Proceed. Eliz. PP. 11, No. 49, P.R.O.

* Close Roll, 9 Eliz. No. 743, P.R.O.

* State Pap. Dom. Eliz. vol. 157, No. 75, P.R.O.
* Eccles. Mem. vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 117.

‘ Collins, Peerage, vol. iii. p. 672, ed. 1812.

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxxxiii

Richard Field, was ignorant of the author’s name, that Sir John
Harrington, only two years after its publication, was unable
to ascertain who had written it, and that the first person to
connect it with the name of Puttenham was Edmund Bolton,
in his Hypercritica, written probably in the first quarter of the
seventeenth century, but not published till 1722. Even
Bolton was ignorant of the author’s Christian name, and had
merely heard a rumour that this now celebrated book was the
work of one of Queen Elizabeth’s gentlemen-pensioners.*
Wood adopted Bolton’s statement, being unable himself to
supply any fresh details with regard to the author.” Ames,
writing in 1749, says ‘the supposed author of this book is
Webster Puttenham,’° an impossible combination which Ritson
not only did not criticise but sanctioned.4 Mr. Haslewood
appears to have been the first who unhesitatingly affirmed that
‘the Christian name of our author was certainly George.°
It must be confessed, however, that the reasons he gives for
coming to this conclusion are not altogether satisfactory. Hav-
ing found the will of a George Puttenham, dated September 1,
1590, and a MS. in the Harleian Collection purporting to be
written by George Puttenham as an Apology or Defence of
Queen Elizabeth’s conduct in her treatment of the Queen of
Scots, Mr. Haslewood considered that these wholly uncon-
nected facts justified him in converting a plausible hypothesis
into a positive certainty.

Modern readers will hardly be content to accept a con-
clusion based upon such flimsy premisses. A careful ex-
amination of documents preserved in the Public Record

* Haslewood, Zssays, vol. ii. p. 250.

>» Athen. Oxon. vol. i. col. 741, ed. 1813.
° Bibliograph. Ant. Ὁ. 418, ed. 1749.

ἃ Bibliographia Poetica, p. 303, ed. 1802.
* Essays, vol, i. p. vi. ed, 1811,

clxxxiv LIFE OF ELYOT.

Office, and of the internal evidence afforded by The Arte of
English Poesie itself, suggests the notion that this celebrated
book was written not by George, but by his elder brother
Richard. It may perhaps be objected that there is but
slight evidence that it was written by either of the brothers.
With regard to this, however, we have first the fact, stated by
Bolton within a quarter of a century of the publication of the
work in question, that current rumour attributed the author-
ship to some person of the name of Puttenham. Secondly,
there are at least two passages in the book itself which tend
to confirm this view. At p. 226 a story is told of the offence
given to the Emperor Charles V. by an ambassador of Henry
VIIL., ‘whom,’ says the author, ‘I could name but will not,
for the great opinion the world had of his wisdome and suffi-
ciency in that behalfe’ The point of the story turns upon
the Englishman’s ignorance of the Spanish phrase appropriate
to the occasion. Now we know by Sir Thomas Elyot’s
own admission that he did not know Spanish, and his nephew
would naturally be reluctant to betray his uncle, for whom he
no doubt entertained a high respect, by connecting his name
with a story redounding somewhat to his discredit. Secondly,
at p. 149 the author mentions the fact that he had composed
an epitaph ‘to the honourable memorie of a deere friend, Sir
John Throgmorton, knight, Justice of Chester, and a man of
many commendable vertues.’ When we remember that the
latter had married Margery Puttenham, there seems little
difficulty in attributing the passage in question to the pen of
a near relative. T-here is therefore a high degree of proba-
bility that ‘fame’ was correct in assigning the authorship of
The Arte of English Poesie to one of the two Puttenhams.
The important question yet remains, to which of the two
brothers ought it to be assigned? Here arises the prelimi-

τ

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxxxv

nary inquiry whether either of the brothers held the appoint-
ment, mentioned by Bolton, of gentleman-pensioner to Queen
Elizabeth. Mr. Selby, of the Public Record Office, who at
the request of the Editor kindly undertook to search the
roll of the gentlemen-pensioners for the whole reign of
Elizabeth, has informed him that they contain no entry of
the name of Puttenham. Apart, however, from this positive
contradiction of Bolton’s description, a passage in the work
itself would seem to negative the suggestion that the author
had occupied such a position, At p. 253, speaking of ‘the
courtiers of forraine countreyes,’ the writer says that he had
‘very well obserued their maner of life and conuersation,’ but
immediately adds that, with regard to those of his own
country, he had ‘not made so great experience.’ Such a
statement could surely never have been made by one who if
he held the appointment mentioned by Bolton must have en-
joyed frequent opportunities for such observation. Bolton
therefore was so far misinformed, that neither of the Putten-
hams would have satisfied his description of the author. In
order to determine to which of the two brothers the authorship
may with the greater probability be assigned, let us see in
what respect the internal evidence of the book is applicable
to the one rather than to the other. And first it is evident
that the author, whoever he was, spent a considerable portion
of his life on the continent. Moreover, two passages enable
us to fix approximately the period of his absence from
England. At p. 227 the author mentions a circumstance
which occurred at a banquet given by the Duchess of Parma,
the Regent of the Low Countries, in honour of the
Earl of Arundel, and of which the author himself was an
eye-witness. Now we know from Lord Burghley’s journal,

clxxxvi LIFE OF ELYOT.

that the Earl ‘went over seas’ in March 1565." From a
decree of the Court of Requests, made February 7, 1566, we
learn that Richard Puttenham was at that date absent from
England, and had been so absent at least from February
1563.» Again at p. 233 the author tells us that ‘in the time
of Charles the ninth French King,’ he happened to be at
Spa when ‘a Marshall of Fraunce, called Monsieur de Sipier,’
who was also there for his health, received from the king ‘a
letters patents of six thousand crownes yearely pension
during his life.’ Now Francois de Scepeaux, better known as
de Vieilleville, received the appointment of Maréchal de
France on December 21, 1562, and he died November 30,
1571. His biographer tells us that in 1569 ‘sa majesté luy
faisoit present de dix mille escus en or pour commencer a le
rembourser de la despence infinie qu’il avoit faicte depuis
cing ou six ans pour son service.’* By records still existing
we know that Richard Puttenham obtained a special pardon
from the Queen in 1570, for having been absent from the
realm without licence.e It may be presumed therefore that
he had returned not long before. George Puttenham was cer-
tainly in England during the time that his brother was abroad,
for he is ordered by the decree mentioned above to contribute
to the support of his brother’s wife ‘until such time as the
said Richard her husband shall make his return into this
realm of England.’ The passages above quoted from The
Arte of Poesie are therefore certainly more consistent with
the view that Richard was the author, than with the hitherto
received opinion which attributes it to George. On the other
© Murdin, Burghley State Pap. p. 761, ed. 1759.
> Court of Requests (Orders and Dec.) vol. xi. fo. 590, P.R.O.
* Pinard, Chronol. Hist. Milit. tom. ii. p. 289, ed. 1760,

4 Mém. sur Vieilleville, p.'799, ed. P. L.
* Pat. Roll, 12 Eliz, P.R.O.

‘LIFE OF ELYOT. celxxxvii

hand it must be admitted that there is one piece of evidence
which at first sight strongly militates against this view. At
p. 141 the author refers to ‘our Eglogue intituled Eizne,
which we made, being but eightene yeares old, to King
Edward the sixt, a Prince of great hope. Now inasmuch as
Richard Puttenham is stated to have been twenty-six years
old some months previous to the accession of Edward VI., it
would seem impossible to reconcile these conflicting state-
ments. But it appears to have been not unusual to address
Edward as the Sixth, while his father was still living ;* and
allowance must be made for some slight inaccuracy on the
part of the author, due to the length of time which had
elapsed and to the pardonable disposition observable in old
age to exaggerate the exploits of youth. Finally there is the
curious and most important fact that The Arte of English
Poesie was not. only published anonymously, but that even
the printer was unacquainted with the writer. ‘This booke,’
says the former, in his address to Lord Burghley, ‘comming
to my handes with his bare title without any authours name.’
Such is the statement made by Richard Field on May 28,
1589. But on referring to the Register of the Stationers’
Company we find that a licence to print the same book had
been granted six months earlier to Thomas Orwin, viz., on
November 9, 1588." Now it is not a little singular that ten
days previous to this latter date Richard Puttenham was in
prison. Of this important fact there is absolutely conclusive
evidence. Among the archives of the Public Record Office
there is preserved a document purporting to be a petition to
the Lords of the Privy Council from Richard Puttenham,
who therein describes himself as ‘prisoner the second time,

* See ex. gr. Hallam. Zit. of Eur. vol. i. p. 344, note Ὁ, 4th ed.
» The Stationers’ Registers, vol. ii. p. 506, ed: 1872.

clxxxviil LIFE OF ELYOT.

and complains bitterly of the harsh treatment he had received
from Mr. Seckford, Master of Requests. This petition con-
cludes with an urgent appeal to their lordships ‘to appoint
him counsel to speak for him before ye, and iz forméd
pauperis, for otherwise he is not able to pay them their fees
nor to retain any.’* It is impossible to give here the chain
of evidence by which the Editor satisfied himself that this
humble suppliant was undoubtedly Sir Thomas Elyot’s
nephew and heir. The reader, however, may take it for
granted that there are abundant materials existing in the
Public Record Office to justify this startling conclusion.
Happily we are enabled to trace the course of this petition,
though the tale which it unfolds is one of treachery and
heartlessness which conveys a very unfavourable impression
of the parties concerned. Along with the petition there is pre-
served a letter from the Lord Mayor of London, one Wolstan
Dixie, dated October 30, 1588, and addressed ‘to the right
worshipful Mr. Seckford, one of the Masters of her Με"
Court of Requests.’ In this letter the Lord Mayor informs
Mr. Seckford that ‘this afternoon there was brought unto me
by a constable and one other with him the supplication here
inclosed,’ and finding whom it concerned, he had ‘thought
good to send the same unto you, referring the matter therein
contained unto your grave consideration.’ Of the result of
the petition we have no positive evidence, but the reader will
probably infer that it was at any rate not favourable to the
suppliant, when he is informed that there is still to be found
at Somerset House the will of ‘Richard Puttenham, Esq.,
nowe prisoner in her Majesties Bench,’ bearing date April 22,
1597. Looking to the fact that Richard Puttenham was a
prisoner in very distressed circumstances at the end of October

* State Pap. Dom. Eliz. vol. 183, No. 66, P.R.O.

LIFE OF ELYOT. clxxxix

1588, and that a few days afterwards a licence was obtained by
Orwin to print the book in question, no author’s name being
given, and that only a few months later it was published, not by
Orwin but by Field, in the manner above described, it must
be admitted that a very fair foundation of probability is
laid for connecting with its authorship the name of Richard
Puttenham. We shall scarcely be assuming too much if
we suppose that the unfortunate prisoner, in his anxiety
to raise the necessary funds to enable him to prosecute
his appeal to the Privy Council, or to procure his release,
parted with the MS. of his work under circumstances which
precluded the revelation of his name to the printer. It was
impossible, however, that a work of this kind, in which,
according to a competent judge, ‘we find an approach to the
higher province of philosophical criticism ’* should not attract
attention in that or indeed in any age. Inquiries would
inevitably be made as to its authorship, and presently ‘fame,’
flitting like a bee from one name to another, would at last
settle upon that which by general consent seemed the most
probable, and thus would enable posterity to detect in the
anonymous author of The Arte of English Poesie him who,
together with the possessions, had inherited no inconsiderable
portion of the genius of Sir Thomas Elyot.

* Hallam, 211. of Zur. vol..ii. p. 210, 4th ed.

ik poe ΓΈ ἐν

).

Che Proheme.

The proheme of Thomas Elyot, knyghte, unto the most noble and victorious
prince kinge Henry the eyght, kyng of Englande and Fraunce,
defender of the true faythe, and lorde of Irelande.*

9 LATE consideringe (moste excellent prince
and myne onely redoughted soueraigne

lorde) my duetie that I owe to my naturall
contray with my faythe also of aliegeaunce
and othe, wherewith I am. double bounden unto your
maiestie, more ouer thaccompt that I haue to rendre
for that one litle talent deliuered to me to employe (as
I suppose) to the increase of vertue, I am (as god iuge
me) violently stered” to deuulgate or sette fourth some
part of my studie, trustynge therby tacquite me of my
dueties to god, your hyghnesse, and this my contray.
Wherfore takinge comfort and boldenesse, partly of
your graces moste beneuolent inclination towarde the
uniuersall weale of your subiectes, partly inflamed with

* In the edition of 1546 and all the subsequent editions the royal style i
altered, and runs thus: ‘ By the grace of god kyng of Englande, Fraunce, ands
Irelande, defender of the faith, and in erth of the Churche of England and also
of Ireland supreme head,’ The change of style was rendered necessary by the
Act 35 Hen. VIII. cap, 3, which was passed in 1543.

> Le. stirred. Ξ

CXCll THE PROHEME,

zele, I haue nowe enterprised to describe in our vulgare
tunge the fourme of a iuste publike weale : whiche
mater I haue gathered as well of the sayenges of moste
noble autours (grekes and latynes) as by myne owne
experience, I beinge continually trayned in some dayly
affaires of the publike weale of this your moste noble
realmeall moostefrom my chylhode.* Whicheattemptate
15 nat of presumption to teache any persone, I my selfe
hauinge moste nede of teachinge: but onely to the in-
tent that men which wil be studious about the weale
publike may fynde the thinge therto expedient compen-
diously writen. And for as moch as this present boke
treateth of the education of them that hereafter may be
demed worthy to be gouernours of the publike weale
under your hyghnesse (whiche Plato” affirmeth to be
the firste and chiefe parte of a publyke weale; Salo-
mon® sayenge also where gouernours be nat the people
shall falle in to ruyne), I therfore haue named it Zhe
Gouernour, and do nowe dedicate it unto your hygh-
nesse as the fyrste frutes of my studye, verely trustynge
that your moste excellent wysedome wyll therein
esteme my loyall harte and diligent endeuour by the

* See Life of Sir Thomas Elyot, p. xxx, ante.

> See ex. gv. Plato, Rep. lib. iv. 423 E. Οὔτοι, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ὦ ᾽γαθὲ ᾿Αδείμαντε, &
δόξειεν ἄν Tis, ταῦτα πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα αὐτοῖς προστάττομεν, ἀλλὰ πάντα φαῦλα, ἐὰν
τὸ λεγόμενον ἕν μέγα φυλάττωσι, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀντὶ μεγάλου ἱκανόν. Τί τοῦτο ; ἔφη.
Τὴν παιδείαν, ἣν δ᾽ ἐγώ, καὶ τροφήν... .. τροφὴ γὰρ καὶ παίδευσις χρηστὴ σωζομένη
φύσεις ἀγαθὰς ἐμποιεῖ, καὶ αὖ φύσεις χρησταὶ τοιαύτης παιδείας ἀντιλαμβανόμεναι ἔτι
βελτίους τῶν προτέρων φύονται. Compare also Legg. lib. vii. 804: ἀλλὰ τὸ λεγό-
μενον πάντ᾽ ἄνδρα καὶ παῖδα κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν, ὡς τῆς πόλεως μᾶλλον ἢ τῶν γεννητόρων
ὄντας, παιδευτέον ἐξ ἀνάγκης.

© See Prov, xi. 14.

THE PROHEME. CXCill

example of Artaxerxes, the noble kynge of Persia,
who reiected nat the pore husbondman whiche offred
to hym his homely handes full of clene water, but
mooste graciously receyued it with thankes, estemynge
the present nat after the value but rather to the wyll
of the gyuer.*. Semblably kynge Alexander retayned
with hym the poete Cherilus honorably for writing
his historie, all though that the poete was but of a
small estimation.” Whiche that prynce dyd not for
lacke of iugement, he beynge of excellent lernynge as
disciple to Aristotell,° but to thentent that his liberalite
emploied on Cherilus shulde animate or gyue courage
to others*moche better lerned to contende with hym in
a semblable enterpryse.

And if, moste vertuous prince, I may perceyue your
hyghnes to be herewith pleased, I shall sone after (god
giuing me quietenes) present your grace with the

* This incident is related by Pluturch: Ἐπεὶ δὲ, ἄλλων ἄλλα προσφερόντων Kad’
ὁδὸν, αὐτουργὸς ἄνθρωπος οὐδὲν ἐπὶ καιροῦ φθάσας εὑρεῖν τῷ ποταμῷ προσέδραμε καὶ
ταῖν χεροῖν ὑπολαβὼν τοῦ ὕδατος προσήνεγκεν, ἡσθεὶς ὁ ᾿Αρτοξέρξες φιάλην ἔπεμψεν
αὐτῷ χρυσῆν καὶ χιλίους Bapecovs.—Plut. Artoxerxes, cap. 5.

b *Gratus Alexandro regi Magno fuit 1116

Cheerilus, incultis qui versibus et male natis,
Rettulit acceptos, regale nomisma, Philippos.’—Hor. £7. ii.1, 232.

Curtius says: ‘Agis quidam Argivus, fessimorum carminum post Cherilum con-
ditor, et ex Sicilia Cleo (hic quidem non ingenii solum sed etiam nationis vitio
adulator) et czetera urbium suarum purgamenta, que propinquis etiam maximor-
umque exercituum ducibus a rege przeferebantur.’—Lib. viii. cap. 5.

* Plutarch is the authority for this fact: Ἦν δὲ καὶ φύσει φιλόλογος kal φιλανα-
γνώστης. Καὶ τὴν μὲν Ἰλιάδα τῆς πολεμικῆς ἀρετῆς ἐφόδιον καὶ νομίζων καὶ ὀνομάζων
ἔλαβε μὲν ᾿Αριστοτέλους διορθώσαντος, hy ἐκ τοῦ νάρθηκος καλοῦσιν, εἶχε δὲ ἀεὶ μετὰ
τοῦ ἐγχειριδίου κειμένην ὑπὸ τὸ προσκεφάλαιον ὡς ᾿Ονησίκριτος ἱστόρηκε. --- ῬΙαΐ,
Alex. cap. 8. Aristotle dedicated his treatise, Περὶ Κόσμου, to his illustrious
pupil.

m

CXCiv THE PROHEME.

residue of my studie and labours,* wherein your hygh-
nes shal well perceiue that I nothing esteme so moche
in this worlde as youre royall astate, (my most dere
soueraigne lorde), and the publike weale of my contray.
Protestinge unto your excellent maiestie that where
I commende herin any one vertue or dispraise any one
vice I meane the generall description of thone and
thother without any other particuler meanynge to the
reproche of any one persone. To the whiche protestation
I am nowe dryuen throughe the malignite of this
present tyme all disposed to malicious detraction.”
Wherfore I mooste humbly beseche your hyghnes to
dayne to be patrone and defendour of this litle warke
agayne the assaultes of maligne interpretours whiche
fayle nat to rente and deface the renoume of wryters,
they them selfes beinge in nothinge to the publike
weale profitable. Whiche is by no man sooner per-
ceyued than by your highnes, being bothe in wyse-
dome and very nobilitie equall to the most excellent
princes, whome, I beseche god, ye may surmount in
longe life and perfect felicitie. Amen.

® See the Life of Sir Thomas Elyot, p. ci, ante. > Tbid. p. cxi.

AN

er:
Ctr ΔῈ
Gi

The Table.

THE TABLE OF THE FIRSTE BOKE OF THE GOUERNOUR.

CHAPTER I.
The significacion of a publike weale, and why tt ts called tn latyne
Respublica , ‘ : . 2 ‘
CHAPTER II.

That one soueraigne gouernour ought to bein a publike weale, and
what damage hath hapned by lackyng one soueraygne gouernour .

CHAPTER III.
That in a publyke weale oughte to be inferior gouernours called
magtstratis

CHAPTER IV.

The education or fourme of bryngynge up the chylde of a gentilman,
which is to haue auctorite in the publike weale : :

CHAPTER V.
The ordre of lernynge before the child cometh to thage of vii yeres ,

CHAPTER VI.

Whan a Tutour shulde be prouided, and what shall appertaine to his
Gee OS SOP) VA ee eae ets

PAGE

24

28

31

35

cxcvi THE TABLE,

CHAPTER VII.
. PAGE
In what wyse mustke may be to a noble man necessary . ‘ . 38

CHAPTER VIII.

That tt ts commendable in a gentilman to paynte or karue exactely, tf
nature do therto induce hym . : . : : . . . 43

CHAPTER IX.
What exacte diligence shulde be in chosinge of maisters

{

CHAPTER X.
What order shulde be in lerninge and whiche autours shulde be first
vadde ἃ . - : ; : ; 5 > ; ; ΕΞ τ
CHAPTER ΧΙ.
The mooste necessarie studies succedynge the lesson of Poetes . 5-92

CHAPTER XII.

Why gentyllmen in this present time be nat equall in doctrine to the
auncient noble men : . ‘ : ‘ ‘ : ‘ . 98

CHAPTER XIII.
The seconde and thirde decaye of lerninge . eRe ° ° . 113

CHAPTER XIV.

Howe the studentes in the lawes of this realme may take excellent
commoditie by the lessons of sondry doctrines . ἢ δ . 133

CHAPTER XV.

The causss why in Englande be fewe perfecte schole maisters .. . 163

THE TABLE.

CHAPTER XVI.

Of sondrye fourmes of exercise necessarye for a gentilman

_ CHAPTER XVII.

Exercises whereof cometh both recreation and profite

CHAPTER XVIII.

The auncient huntyng of Greekes Romanes and Persianes .

CHAPTER XIX,

That all daunsinge ts nat to be reproued ,

CHAPTER XxX.

The fyrst begynnyng of daunsyng and the olde estimation therof.

CHAPTER ΧΧΙ.

Cxcvii

PAGE

. 169

, 173

. 186

. 203

» 295

Wherefore in the good ordre of daunsynge a man and a woman do

daunse together

CHAPTER XXII.

. 233

How daunsing may be an introduction into the fyrst morall vertue,

called Prudence . ᾿ is ᾽ ὃ : - ;

CHAPTER XXIII,

Of Prouidence and industrie ‘ : ᾿

CHAPTER XXIV.

Of Civcumspection oe . St4< ‘ .

. 238

. 246

..253

excevill

CHAPTER XXV. | rn oe
Of election, experience,and modestie . . . . y νὸς 262

CHAPTER XXYVI.

Of other exercyses whiche, moderately used, be to euery astate of man
expedieni — owe kg πὴ ὴπ

CHAPTER XXVIL
That shotyng in a longe bowe ts principall of all other exercises . 286

2 ΙΣ
“SS

Consydering that in settynge the letters to print there can nat
be alway so exacte diligence used but that some thing may
happe to eskape worthy correction all though Argus were the
artificer, I therfore wyll desyre the gentill reders of this warke
that or they seriously rede it they will amende the defautes
in printynge accordinge to the instructions immediately fol-

lowynge. -

THE FAures.

Vol. I. p. 104, line 3 for That rede that

” 140, —5,° F 4 af ”
» 169, ,,20 ,, asmochethe ,,
3) 170, 3) 6 7} densed 37)
Vol. II. p.174, last line,, vnethe
τ | 222, line’9: ,,. That

of

as moche as the
clensed

unethe

that

%

: WHI 2S
FNS IOI SS

THE GOVERNOUR.
Che Firste Woke. Ce

CHAPTER I.

The significacion of a Publike Weale, and why it ts called in
Latin Respublica.

PUBLIKE weale is in sondry wyse defined by
philosophers, but knowyng by experience that
the often repetition of anything of graue or sad

=m Ὁ)

<—

ὃ
Y

warke, who perchance for the more parte haue nat
ben trayned in lerning contaynynge semblable matter, I haue
compiled one definition out of many in as compendious fourme
as my poure witte can deuise, trustyng that in those fewe
wordes the tr€we signification of a publike weale shall eui-
dently appere to them whom reason can satisfie. p,sjyze
A publike weale is a body lyuyng, compacte or made “eae.
of sondry astates and degrees of men, whiche is disposed by
the ordre of equite and gouerned by the rule and moderation
of reason. In the latin tonge it is called Respub-
lica, of the whiche the worde Res hath diuers signi-
fications, and dothe nat only betoken that, that is called a
thynge, whiche is distincte from a persone, but also signifieth
astate, condition, substance, and profite. In our olde
vulgare, profite is called weale. And it is called abi ait

Respublica.

* The word //eds is inserted here in the margin of the original, but has evi-
ees.

importance wyll be tedious to the reders of this”

2 THE GOVERNOUR.

a welthy contraye wherin is all thyng that is profitable.
And he is a welthy man that is riche in money and sub-
stance. Publike (as Varro®* saith) is diriuied of
people, whiche in latin is called Populus, wher-
fore hit semeth that men haue ben longe abused in calling
Rempublicam a commune weale. And they which do sup-
pose it so to be called for that, that euery thinge shulde be
to all men in commune, without discrepance of any astate
or condition, be thereto moued more by sensualite than by
any good reason or inclination to humanite. And that shall
sone appere unto them that wyll be satisfied either with
autorite or with naturall ordre and example.

Fyrst, the propre and trewe signification of the wordes°
publike and commune, whiche be borowed of the latin tonge
for the insufficiencie of our owne langage, shal sufficiently
declare the blyndenes of them whiche haue hitherto holden
and maynteyned the sayde opinions. As I haue sayde, publike
toke his begynnyng of people: whiche in latin is
Populus, in whiche worde is conteyned all the in-
habitantes of a realme or citie, of what astate or condition
so euer they be. leds in englisshe is called the
communaltie, which signifieth only the multitude,
wherin be contayned the base and vulgare inhabitantes not
auanced to any honour or dignite, whiche is also used in
our dayly communication ; for in the citie of London
and other cities they that be none aldermen or sheriffes be
called communers.4 And in the countrey, at a cessions

Publyke.”

Populus.

Plebs.

dently been transposed from its proper place at the top of folio 2, p. 2 of the
present edition. The word Profit is inserted here in the margin in all the subse-
quent editions.

* (A populus) et publicus (ut quidam existimant) quasi populicus quod non
privatim alicujus sed populi sit.—Cornucopia, p. 313, ed. 1527. -

> The word Pudlyke is not inserted here in the margin of the original, but has
evidently been misplaced by the printer, and transferred fer incuriam to the oppo-
site page, folio 14; it now appears in its proper place in the present edition.

¢ The erroneous reading ‘ workes’ has crept into the later editions.

ἃ This definition, however, is not quite accurate, for under certain circum-
stances both aldermen and sheriffs might be included in the general term ‘common-

THE GOVERNOUR. 3

or other assembly, if no gentyl men be there at, the
sayenge is that there was none but the communalte, whiche
proueth in myn oppinion that P/eds in latine is in englisshe
communaltie and P/ebeit be communers. And consequently
there may appere lyke diuersitie to be in englisshe betwene
a publike weale and acommune weale, as shulde be Publike

in latin betwene Res publica and Res plebeia. And and Com-
after that signification, if there shuld be a commune ”“”
weale, either the communers only must be welthy, and the
gentil and noble men nedy and miserable, orels* excluding
gentilite, al men must be of one degre and sort, and a new
name prouided. For as moche as Péeds in latin, and com-
miners in englisshe, be wordes only made for the discrepance
of degrees, wherof procedeth ordre: whiche in thinges abe

as wel naturall as supernaturall hath euer had suche __ ὁ

a preeminence, that therby the incomprehensible maiestie of
god, as it were by a bright leme* of a torche or candel, is de-
clared to the blynde inhabitantes of this worlde. More ouer
take away ordre from all thynges what shulde than remayne ?
Certes nothynge finally, except some man wolde ima-
gine eftsones* Chaos: whiche of some is expounde a
confuse mixture. Also where there is any lacke of ordre
nedes must be perpetuall conflicte: and in thynges subiecte
to Nature nothynge of hym selfe onely may be norisshed ; but
whan he hath distroyed that where with he dothe participate

aos,

alty,’ thus we find, e.g., that in some of the ancient charters of the City of London
preserved in the Liber Custumarum, now printed under the direction of the Master
of the Rolls, grants were sometimes made ‘ majori et communze Londoniarum ;’ at
other times ‘le Maire et la communalte de tote la cite de Londres’ entered into an
agreement, e.g. with the merchants of Amyas, Corbie, and Nesle. 21 Henry III.
Again, as illustrating the legal distinction, we find that Communitas civitatis Lon-
doniarum summonita fuit ad respondendum Domino Regi quo warranto Major
Aldermanni et Vicecomites in Hustingo civitatis preedictee corrigunt judicia in
curiis Regis coram Vicecomitibus civitatis preedicte, etc., et communitas venit.’
Writs on the other hand were usually issued, ‘Majori et Vicecomitibus Lon-
doniarum.’
* See the Glossary.

4 THE GOVERNOUR.

by the ordre of his creation, he hym selfe of necessite muste
than perisshe, wherof ensuethe uniuersall dissolution.

But nowe to proue, by example of those thynges that be
within the compasse of mannes knowlege, of what estima-
tion ordre is, nat onely amonge men but also with god, all be it
his wisedome, bounte, and magnificence can be with no tonge
or penne sufficiently expressed. Hath nat he set degrees and
astates in all his glorious warkes ?

Fyrst in his heuenly ‘ministres, whom, as the churche
affirmeth, he hath constituted to be in diuers degrees called
hierarches.*

Also Christe saithe by his euangelist that in the house of
his father (which is god) be many mansions.” But to treate of
that whiche by naturall understandyng may be comprehended.

Beholde the foure elementes wherof the body of man
ΘΝ ΩΣ compacte, howe they be set in their places called
spheris, higher or lower, accordynge to the soueraintie of theyr
natures, that is to saye, the fyer as the most pure element,
hauyng in it nothing that is corruptible, in his place is higheste
and aboue other elementes. The ayer, whiche next to the
fyre is most pure in substance, is in the seconde sphere or
place. The water, whiche is somewhat consolidate, and ap-
procheth to corruption, is next unto the erthe. The erthe,
whiche is of substance grosse and Eemnenn is set of all
elementes most lowest.

Beholde also the ordre that god hath put banetilly i in al
his creatures, begynnyng at the moste inferiour or base, and
assendynge upwarde : he made not only herbes to garnisshe the

* Thus Thomas Aquinas, citing as his authority a work which was erroneously
ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, says: ‘Sic igitur et in qualibet hierarchia
angelicé ordines distinguuntur secundum diversos actus et officia, et omnis ἰδία
diversitas ad tria reducitur, scilicet ad summum, medium, et infimum ; et propter
hoc in qualibet hierarchia Dionysius (Ce/est. hier., cap. vi. § 2), ponit tres ordines
nempe Seraphim, Cherubim, et thronorum, in prima ; dominationum, virtutum, et
potestatum, in secunda ; principatuum, archangelorum, et angelorum, in tertia.’—
Summ. Theolog: pt. 1. queest. cviii.

Ὁ See S. John, chap. xiv. 2.

THE GOVERNOUR. 5

erthe, but also trees of a more eminent stature than herbes,
and yet in the one and the other be degrees of qualitees ; some
pleasant to beholde, some delicate or good in taste, other hol-
some and medicinable, some commodious and necessary.
Semblably in byrdes, bestis, and fisshes, some be good for the
sustinance of man, some beare thynges profitable to sondry
uses, other be apte to occupation and labour; in diuerse is
strength and fiersenes only; in many is both strength and
commoditie ; some other serue for pleasure; none of them

hath all these qualities; fewe haue the more part or many, »

specially beautie, strength, and profite. But where any is
founde that hath many of the said propreties, he is more set
by than all the other, and by that estimation the ordre of his
place and degree euidentlye apperethe ; so that euery kynde
of trees, herbes, birdes, beastis, and fisshes, besyde theyr diuer-
sitie of fourmes, haue (as who sayth) a peculier disposition
appropered unto them by god theyr creatour: so that in euery
thyng is ordre, and without ordre may be nothing stable or
permanent ; and‘ it may nat be called ordre, excepte it do
contayne in it degrees, high and base, accordynge to the
merite or estimation of the thyng that is ordred.

Nowe to retourne to the astate of man kynde, for whose use
all the sayd creatures were ordayned of god, and also excel-
leth them all by prerogatife of knowlege and wisedome, hit
semeth that in hym shulde be no lasse prouidence of god
declared than in the inferiour creatures; but rather with a
more perfecte ordre and dissposition. And therfore hit appereth
that god gyueth nat to euery man like gyftes of grace, or of
nature, but to some more, some lesse, as it liketh his diuine
maiestie.

Ne they be nat in commune, (as fantasticall foles wolde
haue all thyngs), nor one man hath nat al vertues and good
qualities. Nat withstandyng for as moche as under- Uyder-
standyng is the most excellent gyfte that man can “@”dynge.
receiue in his creation, wherby he doth approche most nyghe
unto the similitute of god; whiche understandynge is the

6 THE GOVERNOUR. :

principall parte of the soule: it is therfore congruent, and ac-
cordynge that as one excelleth an other in that influence, as
therby beinge next to the similitude of his maker, so shulde
the astate of his persone be auanced in degree or place where
understandynge may profite : whiche is also distributed in to
sondry uses, faculties, and offices, necessary for the lyuing and
gouernance of mankynde. And like as the angels whiche be
most feruent in contemplation be highest exalted in glorie,
(after the opinion of holy doctours*), and also the fire
whiche is the most pure of elementes, and also doth clarifie
the other inferiour elementes, is deputed to the highest sphere
or place ; so in this worlde, they whiche_excelle other in this
influence of undérstandynge, and do o imploye i it to the detayn-

yng of other. within t the | oundes “of reason, and shewe them

THE et al ον

howe to prouyde for -theyr 1 necessarye lyuynge ; suche “oughte

en eas

το δὲ set in a more” ighe™ placé“than the reside where they
may se and also be 58. sene ; Sear ‘by. y the 1e beames of theyr.excel-
lent_witte, shewed ἘΠ οἷς the glasse of auctorite, other of
inferiour understandynge may ‘ be directed to_the way of ver-
tue and commodious Tiuynge. And unto men of suche vertue
by very equitie appertaineth honour, as theyr iuste
rewarde and duetie, whiche by other mennes labours
must also be mainteined according to their merites. For as
moche as the saide persones, excelling in knowlege wherby
other be gouerned, be ministers for the only profite and com-
moditie of them whiche haue nat equall understandyng : where
they whiche do exercise artificiall science or corporall labour,
do nat trauayle for theyr superiours onely, but also for theyr
owne necessitie. So the husbande man fedethe hym selfe
and the clothe maker: the clothe maker apparayleth hym
selfe and the husbande: they both socour other artificers :
other artificers them: they and other artificers them that be
gouernours, But they that be gouernours (as I before sayde)

Honour.

* «In ceelesti enim hierarchia tota ratio ordinis est ex propinquitate ad Deum ;
et ideo illi, qui sunt Deo propinquiores, sunt et gradu eee et scientia
clariores.’—Aquinas, Summ. Theolog. pars 1. quest. cvi.

THE GOVERNOUR. 7

nothinge do acquire by the sayde influence of knowlege for
theyr owne necessities, but do imploye all the powers of
theyr wittes, and theyr diligence, to the only preseruation of
other theyr inferiours: amonge whiche inferiours also behou-
eth to be a disposition and ordre accordynge to reason, that
is to saye, that the slouthfull or idell persone do nat partici-
pate with hym that is industrious and taketh payne: wherby
the frutes of his labours shulde be diminisshed: wherin
shulde be none equalite, but therof shulde procede discourage,
and finally disolution for lacke of prouision. Wherfore it
can none other wyse stande with reason, but that the astate
of the persone in preeminence of lyuynge shulde be estemed
with his understandyng, labour, and policie: where unto muste
be added an augmentation of honour and substaunce ;
whiche nat onely impressethe a reuerence, wherof procedethe
due obedience amonge subiectes, but also inflameth men na-
turally inclined to idelnes or sensuall appetite to coueyte lyke
fortune, and for that cause to dispose them to studie or occu-
pation. Nowe to conclude my fyrst assertion or argument,
where all thynge is commune, theré Iacketh ordre ; and where
onde cketh, ferro ange odious and τΥΣ απ And
that haue we in dayly experience ; for the pannes and pottes
garnissheth wel the ketchyn, and yet shulde they be to the
chambre none ornament. Also the beddes, testars, and pil-
lowes besemeth nat the halle, no more than the carpettes and
kusshyns becometh the stable. Semblably the potter and
tynker, only perfecte in theyr crafte, shall littell do in the
ministration of iustice. A ploughman or carter shall make
but a feble answere to an ambassadour. Also a wayuer ὃ or
fuller shulde be an unmete capitaine of an armie, or in any
other office of a governour. Wherfore to conclude, it is onely
a publike weale, where, like as god hath disposed the saide
influence of understandyng, is also appoynted degrees and
places accordynge to the excellencie therof; and therto also
wold be substance conuenient and necessarye for the orna-

® 74. weaver.

8 THE GOVERNOUR.

ment of the same, whiche also impresseth a reuerence and due
obedience to the vulgare people or communaltie ; and with out
that, it can be no more said that there is a publike weale, than
it may be affirmed that a house, without his propre and
necessarye ornamentes, is well and sufficiently furnisshed.

CHAPTER IL

That one soueraigne gouernour ought to be in a publike
weale. And what damage hath happened where a multitude
hath had equal authorite without any soueraygne.

LYKE as to a castell or fortresse suffisethe one owner
or souerayne, and where any mo® be of like power and
authoritie seldome cometh the warke to perfection ; or beinge
all redy made, where the one diligently ouerseeth and the
other neglecteth, in that contention all is subuerted and
commeth to ruyne. In semblable wyse dothe a publike
weale that hath mo chiefe_gouernours than_one. Example
we may take of the grekes, amonge whom in diuers cities
weare diuers fourmes of publyke weales gouerned. by mul-
titudes: wherin one was most tollerable where the gouern-
ance and rule was alway permitted to them whiche ex-
celled in vertue,” and was in the greke tonge called Avis-

* See the Glossary. _ :

» Thucydides, however, shows us that even in the opinion of Phrynicus, himselt
one of the chief organizers of the oligarchical movement, the rule of the so-called
‘good and virtuous’ men hardly merited this description : τούς τε καλοὺς κἀγαθοὺς
ὀνομαζομένους οὐκ ἐλάσσω αὐτοὺς νομίζειν σφίσι πράγματα παρέξειν τοῦ δήμου, ποριστὰς
ὄντας καὶ ἐσηγητὰς τῶν κακῶν τῷ δήμῳ, ἐξ ὧν τὰ πλείω αὐτοὺς ὠφελεῖσθαι" καὶ τὸ μὲν
én’ ἐκείνοις εἶναι, καὶ ἄκριτοι ἂν καὶ βιαιότερον ἀποθνήσκειν, τὸν τε δῆμον σφῶν τε
καταφυγὴν εἶναι καὶ ἐκείνων σωφρονιστήν. καὶ ταῦτα παρ᾽ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων ἐπιστα-
μένας τὰς πόλεις σαφῶς αὐτὸς εἰδέναι, ὅτι οὕτω νομίζουσι. Lib. viii. cap. 48. Mr.
Grote says: ‘In taking the comparison between oligarchy and democracy in
Greece there is hardly any evidence more important than this passage : a testi-
mony to the comparative merit of democracy, pronounced by an oligarchical

THE GOVERNOUR. 9

tocratia, in latin Optimorum Potentia, in englisshe the rule
of men of beste disposition, which the Thebanes 4yistocra.
of longe tyme obserued.* ties.

An other publique weale was amonge the Atheniensis,
where equalitie was of astate amonge the people, and only by
‘theyr holle consent theyr citie and dominions were gouerned :”
whiche moughte well be called a monstre with many heedes :
nor neuer it was certeyne nor stable:° and often tymes they

conspirator and sanctioned by an historian himself unfriendly to the democracy.’—
Hist. of Greece, vol. v. p. 363, note. Ἷ

3. Xenophon, speaking of the Βοβοζίδῃ cities which were favourable to Thebes,
says: ἐν πάσαις γὰρ ταῖς πόλεσι δυναστεῖαι καθειστήκεσαν, ὥσπερ ἐν OnBaus.—LHellen.
lib. v. cap. 4. ‘These words,’ says Mr. Grote, ‘allude to the ‘‘factio optima-
tium” at Thebes, of whom Leontiadés was the chief, who betrayed the Kadmeia
(the citadel of Thebes) to the Lacedzemonian troops under Pheebidas, B.c. 382 ;
and who remained masters of Thebes, subservient to Sparta and upheld bya
standing Lacedzemonian garrison in the Kadmeia, until they were overthrown by
the memorable conspiracy of Pelopidas and Mellon B.c. 379. It is to this
oligarchy under Leontiadés at Thebes, devoted to Spartan interests and resting on
Spartan support, that Xenophon compares the governments planted by Sparta
after the peace of Antalkidas in each of the Boeotian cities. What he says of the
government of Leontiadés and his colleagues at Thebes is: ‘that they deliber-
ately introduced the Lacedzmonians and enslaved Thebes to them, in order -that
they might themselves exercise a despotism.” ’—/ist. of Greece, vol. vii. p. 25, note.

> Kleisthenés abolished the four Ionic tribes, and created in their place ten
new tribes founded upon a different principle, independent of the gentes and
phratries. Each of his new tribes comprised a certain number of demes or
cantons, with the enrolled proprietors and residents in each of them. The demes
taken altogether included the entire surface of Attica, ’so that the Kleisthenean
constitution admitted to the political franchise all the free native Athenians ; and
not merely these, but also many metics, and even some of the superior order of
slaves. Putting out of sight the general body of slaves, and regarding only the
free inhabitants, it was, in point of fact, a scheme approaching to universal
suffrage, both political and judicial.’—Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. iii. p. 109.

° Mr. Grote vindicates the Athenian democracy from the charges of incon-
stancy and ingratitude especially with regard to the treatment of Miltiades. ‘It
is a well known fact,’ he says, ‘that feelings, or opinions, or modes of judging
which have once obtained footing among a large number of people, are more
lasting and unchangeable than those which belong only to one or a few; inso-
much that the judgments and actions of the many admit of being more clearly
understood as to the past, and more certainly predicted as to the future. If we
are to predicate any attribute of the multitude it will rather be that of undue
tenacity than undue fickleness. There will occur nothing in the course of this

10 THE GOVERNOUR.

banyssed or slewe the beste citezins, whiche by their vertue
and wisedome had moste profited to the publike weale.* This
Witers- maner of gouernaunce was called in greke Democratia,
cratia, in latin Popularis potentia, in englisshe the rule of
the comminaltie. Of these two gouernances none of them
may be sufficient. For in the fyrste, whiche consisteth of
| good men, vertue is nat so constant in a multitude, but that
some, beinge ones in authoritie, be incensed with glorie : some
\ with ambition: other with coueitise and desire of treasure or
| possessions: wherby they falle in to contention: and finallye,
where any achiuethe the superioritie, the holle gouernance is
reduced unto a fewe in nombre, whiche fearinge the multitude
and their mutabilitie, to the intent to kepe them in drede to
rebelle, ruleth by terrour and crueltie, thinking therby to kepe
them selfe in suertie : nat withstanding, rancour coarcted and
longe detained in a narowe roume, at the last brasteth out
with intollerable violence, and bryngeth al to confusion. For
the power that is practized to the hurte of many can nat con-
tinue. The populare astate, if it any thing do varie from
equalitie of substance or estimation, or that the multitude of

history to prove that the Athenian people changed their opinions on insufficient
grounds more frequently than an unresponsible One or Few would have changed.’
—Hist. of Greece, vol. iii. p. 321.

* Sir Thomas Elyot of course alludes to the ostracism of Aristides and
Miltiades, &c., but Mr. Grote shows that so far from the system of ostracism
being employed as an engine of oppression or caprice, it was an indispensable
adjunct to the democratical form of government. ‘Plutarch,’ says Mr. Grote,
“has affirmed that the ostracism arose from the envy and jealousy inherent in a
democracy, and not from justifiable fears,—-an observation often repeated, yet not
the less demonstrably untrue. Not merely because ostracism so worked as often
to increase the influence of that political leader whose rival it removed, but still
more because if the fact had been as Plutarch says, this institution would have
continued as long as the democracy ; whereas it finished with the banishment of
Hyperbolus, at a period when the government was more decisively democratical
than it had been in the time of Kleisthenés. It was, in truth, a product alto-
gether of fear and insecurity on the part both of the democracy and its best friends
—fear perfectly well grounded, and only appearing needless because the precau
tions taken prevented attack. As soon as the diffusion of a constitutional morality
had placed the mass of the citizens above all serious fear of an aggressive usurper,
the ostracism was discontinued.’—/vist, of Greece, vol. iii. pp. 137, 138.

THE GOVERNOUR. II

people haue ouer moche liberte, of necessite one of these in-
conueniences muste happen: either tiranny, where he that is
to moche in fauour wolde be elevate and suffre none equalite,
orels in to the rage of a communaltie, whiche of all rules is
moste to be feared. For lyke as the communes, if they fele
some seueritie, they do humbly serue and obaye, so where
they imbracinge a licence refuse to be brydled, they flynge
and plunge: and if they ones throwe downe theyr gouernour,
they ordre euery thynge without iustice, only with vengeance
and crueltie: and with incomparable difficultie and unneth*
by any wysedome be pacified and brought agayne in to ordre.
pa Sets undoubtedly the best and most sure gouernance is

y one kyngeor-prince, whiche fuleth onely for the weale of
be people to hym subiecte:” and that maner of gouernaunce
is beste approued, and hath longest continued, and is moste
auncient.° For who can denie but that all thynge in heuen and

* See the Glossary.

» The words ‘to hym subiecte’ are omitted in the subsequent editions.

© The above passage exhibits very clearly the bias of the author’s own mind,
for the sentiment there expressed could scarcely have been inspired by a perusal of
classical writers. Herodotus, for example, says : κῶς δ᾽ ἂν εἴη χρῆμα κατηρτημένον
μουναρχίη, τῇ ἔξεστι ἀνευθύνῳ ποιέειν τὰ βούλεται; Kal yap ἂν τὸν ἄριστον ἀνδρῶν
πάντων στάντα ἐς ταύτην τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκτὸς τῶν ἐωθότων νοημάτων στήσειε.....
Πλῆθος δὲ ἄρχον πρῶτα μὴν οὔνομα πάντων κάλλιστον ἔχει ἰσονομιήν. δεύτερα δέ,
τούτων τῶν ὃ μούναρχος ποιέει οὐδέν. Πάλῳ μὲν ἀρχὰς ἄρχει, ὑπεύθυνον δὲ ἀρχὴν
ἔχει, βουλεύματα δὲ πάντα ἐς τὸ κοινὸν ἀναφέρει. Τίθεμαι ὧν γνώμην μετέντας ἡμέας
μουναρχίην, τὸ πλῆθος ἀέξειν. ἐν γὰρ 'τῷ πολλῷ ἔνι τὰ πάντα.---Τ λῦ. iii. cap. 80.
Again, Aristotle says : ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων γε φανερὸν ὡς ἐν μὲν τοῖς ὁμοίοις καὶ
ἴσοις οὔτε συμφέρον ἐστὶν οὔτε δίκαιον ἕνα κύριον εἶναι πάντων, οὔτε μὴ νόμων ὄντων, αλλ᾽
αὐτὸν ὡς ὄντα νόμον, οὔτε νόμων ὄντων, οὔτε ἀγαθὸν ἀγαθῶν, οὔτε μὴ ἀγαθῶν μὴ ἀγαθὸν
οὐδ᾽ ἂν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ἀμείνων ἧ, εἰ μὴ τρόπον twd.—Pollt,, lib. iii. cap. 17. Mr. Grote
contrasts very clearly the ancient and modern ideas with regard to monarchy, and
shows how impossible it was even for Aristotle, ‘the wisest as well as the most
cautious of ancient theorists,’ to form any conception of a constitutional king, as
we understand the term. ‘It has been found,’ he says, ‘in practice possible to
combine regal government with fixity of administration, equal law impartially
executed, security to person and property and freedom of discussion under repre-
sentative forms, in a degree which the wisest ancient Greek would have deemed
hopeless. Such an improvement inthe practical working of this species of govern-
ment, speaking always comparatively, with the kings of ancient times in Syria,
Egypt, Judea, the Grecian cities, and Rome, coupled with the increased force

12 THE GOVERNOUR.

erthe is gouerned by one god, by one perpetuall ordre, by one
prouidence? One Sonne ruleth ouer the day, and one Moone
ouer the nyghte ; and to descende downe to the erthe, in a
litell beest, whiche of all other is moste to be maruayled at,
I meane the Bee, is lefte to man by nature, as it semeth, a per-
petuall figure of a iuste gouernaunce or rule: who hath
amonge them one principall Bee for theyr gouernour, who

excelleth all other in greatnes, yet hath he no pricke or

stinge, but in hym is more knowlege than in the residue.®
For if the day folowyng shall be fayre and drye, and that
the bees may issue out of theyr stalles® without peryll of
rayne or vehement wynde, in the mornyng erely he calleth
them, makyng a noyse as it were the sowne of a horne or a
trumpet ; and with that all the residue prepare them to labour,
and fleeth abrode, gatheryng nothing but that shall be swete
and profitable, all though they sitte often tymes on herbes and
other thinges that be venomous and stynkinge.

The capitayne hym selfe laboureth nat for his sustinance,
but all the other for hym; he onely seeth that if any drane°

of all established routine and the greater durability of all institutions and creeds
which have once obtained footing throughout any wide extent of territory and
people, has caused the monarchical sentiment to remain predominant in the Euro-
pean mind (though not without vigorous occasional dissent) throughout the in-
creased knowledge and the enlarged political experience of the last two centuries.’
—Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. pp. 228, 229.

* Chaucer uses the same metaphor as a ‘sign of gentleness’ in the Persone’s
Tale. ‘Wherfore, as seith Senek, ther is nothing more covenable to a man of
heigh estate than debonairté and pité; and therfore thise flies than men clepen
bees, whan thay make here king, thay chesen oon that hath no pricke wherwith
he may stynge.’—Foetical Works, vol. iii. p. 301, ed. 1866.

» The author’s use of the word ‘stall’ is justified by the authority of Virgil,
who employs the word ‘stabulum’ in the same sense in the fourth Georgic, and
the context indicates that Sir T. Elyot had Virgil’s description in his mind at the
time of writing the above :—

‘ Nec vero a stabulis pluvid impendente recedunt
Longius, aut credunt ccelo adventantibus Euris.’
Georg. iv. 191.
_°* Ze. drone. Compare Virgil’s

‘ Ignavum fucos pecus ἃ preesepibus arcent.’

Georg. iv. 168.

\

ἢν ————

THE GOVERNOUR. 13

or other unprofitable bee entreth in to the hyue, and con-
sumethe the hony, gathered by other, that he be immediately
expelled from that company. And when there is an other
nombre of bees encreased, they semblably haue also a capi-
tayne, whiche be nat suffered to continue with the’ other.
Wherfore this newe company gathered in to a swarme, hauyng
their capitayne amonge them, and enuironynge hym to pre-
serue hym from harme, they issue forthe sekyng a newe habi-
tation, whiche they fynde in some tree, except with some
pleasant noyse they be alured and conuayed unto an other
hyue. I suppose who seriously beholdeth this example, and
hath any commendable witte, shall therof gather moche
matter to the fourmynge of a publike weale. But bicause I
may nat be longe therin, considerynge my purpose, I wolde that
if the reder herof be lerned, that he shulde repayre to the
Georgikes of Virgile, or to Plini, or Collumella, where he
shall fynde the example more ample and better declared.
And if any desireth to haue the gouernance of one persone
proued by histories, let hym fyrste resorte to the holy scrip-
ture: where he shall fynde that almyghty god commanded
Moses only, to brynge his elected people out of cap-
tiuite, gyuynge onely to hym that authoritie, without
appoyntynge to hym any other assistence of equall power or
dignitie, excepte in the message to kynge Pharo,
wherin Aaron, rather as a ministre than a companyon,
wente with Moses.* But onely Moses conducted the people
through the redde see; he onely gouerned them fourtie yeres
in deserte. And bicause Dathan and Abiron dis- wie
dayned his rule, and coueyted to be equall with hym, and

the erthe opened, and fyre issued out, and swalowed Abiron,
them in, with all their holle familie and confederates, to the
nombre of 14,700.”

Moses.

Aaron.

4 See Exodus iv. 14-16. ,
> This is manifestly incorrect—the author having confused the results of the
earthquake, the fire, and the plague. See Numbers xvi. 32, 35, 49.

14 THE GOVERNOUR.

And all thoughe Hietro,* Moses’ father in lawe, counsailed
yas ag. ym tO departe his importable labours, in continual
sayleof iugementes, unto the wise men that were in his
Hier. company, he nat withstandynge styll retayned the
soueraintie by goddis commandement, untyll, a litle before he
ate δὴ dyed, he resigned it to Josue, assigned by god to be
cessour to ruler after hym.’ Semblably after the deth of Josue,
Moises. by the space of 246° yeres, succeded, from tyme to
tyme, one ruler amonge the Jewes, whiche was chosen for his
excellencie in vertue and speciallye iustice, wherfore he was
called the iuge, untill the Israelites desired of almightye god
to let them haue a kynge as other people had:* who appointed
Saul. EB ‘
other in stature. And so successiuely one kynge
gouerned all the people of Israell, unto the time of Roboaz,‘
sonne of the noble kynge Salomon, who, beinge
unlike to his father in wisedome, practised tyranny ὃ
amonge his people, wherfore ix partes of them which they

Roboaz.

called Tribus forsoke hym, and elected Hieroboaz," late

seruant to Salomon, to be theyr kynge, onely the x parte
remaynynge with Roboaz.'

And so in that realme were continually two kynges, untill
the kynge of Mede had depopulate the countrey, and brought
the people in captiuite to the citie of Babylon ;* so that durynge
the tyme that two kinges rayned ouer the iewes was euer
continuall bataile amonge them selfes: where if one kynge
had alway rayned lyke to Dauid or Solomon of lykelyhode

5.72. Jethro. See Exodus xviii. 17-26.

>» See Numbers xxvii. 18.

© This does not agree with the Authorised Version of Acts xiii. 20, but Doctor
Wordsworth says that the true reading of the oldest MSS. gives 450 years as the
period which elapsed between the birth of Isaac, A.M. 2046 and A.M. 2493, when
the land began to be cultivated by the Israelites, so that the calculation in the
text is not necessarily irreconcilable with that of 5. Paul.—/Vov. Test. in loc. cit.

4 See 1 Sam. viii. 5. 9 See rt Sam. ix, 2.
* J.e, Rehoboam. & See 1 Kings xii. 14.
» J.e, Jeroboam. ' See 1 Kings xii. 20.

κ See 2 Kings xxiv. 14-16.

to them Saul to be their kynge, who exceded all.

:
— ΝΣ

THE GOVERNOUR. 15

the countrey shuld nat so sone haue ben brought in
captiuite.

Also in the tyme of the Machabeis, as longe as they had
but one busshop whiche was their ruler, and was in the stede
of a prince at that dayes, they valiantly resisted the gentils :
and as well the Romanes, then great lordes of the worlde, as
Persians and diuers other realmes desired to haue with them
amitie and aliaunce: and all the inhabitantes of that countrey
liued in great weale and quietnes. But after that by symony
and ambition there happened to be two bisshops whiche
deuided their authorities, and also the Romanes had deuided
the realme of Judea to foure princes called ¢etrarchas, and also
constituted a Romane capitayne or president ouer them:
among the heddes there neuer cessed to be sedition and
perpetuall discorde: wherby at the last the people was dis-

troyed, and the contray brought to desolation and horrible
barrennes.*

The Grekes, which were assembled to reuenge the reproche
of Menelaus, that he toke of the Troians by the rauisshing of

_ ® © After the death of Esdras and Nehemiah the Jews were governed by their
High Priest ; in subjection, however, to the Persian kings, to whom they paid
tribute. At the same time, this subjection to the Persian kings left them in the full
enjoyment of their religious liberties: whilst it could be hardly said to have inter-
fered with their civil freedom. Nearly three centuries of uninterrupted prosperity
ensued. The privileges granted by the Persian kings being continued by Alex-
ander the Great, and the various Grecian.monarchs, his successors, to whom the
Jews were subject. Then came the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria,
by whom they were most cruelly oppressed and compelled to take up arms in
their own defence. Owing to the valiant conduct of Judas Machabeus and his
brothers the Jews sustained a vigorous struggle for twenty-six years against five
successive kings of Syria ; and at length succeeded in establishing their indepen-
dence. From this period down, for the space of more than one hundred years,
the family of the Machabees gave rulers to the Jewish nation, who united in their
own persons the regal and pontifical dignity. The downfall of the Machabean
princes had its beginning in family disputes—Hyrcanus the Second having been
opposed by his brother Aristobulus. Then the Romans under Pompey interfered ;
defeated Aristobulus; captured Jerusalem ; and reduced Judea to a tributary pro-
vince of the Republic.’—Dixon’s Zztroduction to the Scriptures, vol. ii. p. 46. Sir
Thomas Elyot’s own knowledge of the history of the Machabees was in all proba-
bility derived from the pages of Josephus.

16 THE GOVERNOUR.

Helene, his wyfe, dyd nat they by one assent electe Aga-
memnon to be their emperour or capitain: obeinge him as
theyr soueraine duryng the siege of Troy? All though that
Prynces of ‘they had diuers excellent princes, nat onely equall to
Grece. hym, but also excelling hym :* as in prowes, Achilles,
and Aiax Thelemonius: in wisedome, Nestor and Ulisses,
and his oune brother Menelaus, to whom they mought haue
giuen equall authoritie with Agamemnon: but those wise
princes considered that, without a generall capitayne, so many

persones as were there of diuers realmes gathered together,

shulde be by no meanes well gouerned: wherfore Homere
Agamem- Calleth Agamemnon the shepeherde of people.”
te: They rather were contented to be under one mannes
obedience, than seuerally to use theyr authorities or to ioyne
in one power and dignite ; wherby at the last shuld have
sourded®¢ discention amonge the people, they beinge seperately
enclined towarde theyr naturall souerayne lorde, as it appered
in the particuler contention that was betwene Achilles and
Agamemnon for theyr concubines, where Achilles, renoun-
cynge the obedience that he with all other princes had before
promised, at the bataile fyrst enterprised agaynst the Troians.
For at that tyme no litell murmur and sedition was meued#

* Thucydides, however, says: ᾿Αγαμέμγων τέ μοι δοκεῖ τῶν τότε δυνάμει προὔχων,
καὶ οὐ τοσοῦτον τοῖς Τυνδάρεω ὅρκοις κατειλημμένους τοὺς Ἑ .λένης μνηστῆρας ἄγων,
mov στόλον ἀγεῖραι. .. .. ἅ μοι δοκεῖ ᾿Αγαμέμνων παραλαβὼν, καὶ ναυτικῷ τε ἅμα
ἐπὶ πλέον τῶν ἄλλων ἰσχύσας, τὴν στρατείαν οὐ χάριτι τὸ πλεῖον ἢ φόβῳ ξυναγαγών
ποιήσασθαι.---Ἰ ρ. i. cap. 9. Mr. Gladstone, in his Studies on Homer, thinks that
‘the statements of Homer respecting the position of Agamemnon and the motives
of the war fall short of, but are not wholly at variance with the opinion which
has been expressed by Thucydides ;’ and comes to the conclusion that ‘a combi-

nation of hope, sympathy, respect, and fear, but certainly a very strong personal _

feeling, whatever its precise ingredients may have been, towards the Pelopid house,
must have operated largely in the matter.’—Vol. iii. pp. 64, 65.

> ποιμὴν λαῶν. ----71, ii. 85, and passim. Mr. Gladstone says, ‘I find it on the
whole impossible to detect in this phrase anything of a definite character, except
that it expresses political rule at large, “and expresses it under the form of a figure
adapted to the early and patriarchal state of society.’—Studies on Homer, vol. i.

Ρ. 449.
© See the Glossary. 4 See the Glossary.

THE GOVERNOUR. 17

in the hoste of the grekes, whiche nat withstandyng was
wonderfully pacified, and the armie unscatered by asygiessic,
the maiestie of Agamemnon, ioynynge to hym coun- Wasi,
sailours Nestor and the witty Ulisses.* Ulises.
But to retourne agayne. Athenes and other cities of

| Grece, whan they had abandoned kynges,” and concluded to

ὁ Obviously referring to //iad ii. 402:
Αὐτὰρ 6 βοῦν ἱέρευσεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν ᾿Αγαμέμνων.....
Κίκλησκεν δὲ γέροντας ἀριστῆας παναχαιῶν "
Νέστορα μὲν πρώτιστα, καὶ ᾿Ιδομενῆα ἄνακτα,
Αὐτὰρ ἔπειτ᾽ Αἴαντε δύω, καὶ Τυδέος υἷόν "
Ἕκτον δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ᾽Οδυσῆα, Διὶ μῆτιν ἀτάλαντον.

> Instead of ‘kings’ we should read ‘tyrants’ or ‘despots,’ because the con-
text shows that the author intended to contrast the government of Athens, as it
existed down to the expulsion of the Peisistratids, (which, curiously enough,
coincided with the regifuge at Rome) with the democratical constitution of which
Kleisthenés was the founder. According to Sir Thomas Elyot’s reading of history,
the balance of advantage inclined decidedly in favour of the former régime ; but
modern writers, with better means of judging, have been enabled to restore the
Athenian democracy to its true position. Mr. Grote, in discussing the fate of
Miltiadés, says, ‘To speak ill of the people, as Machiavel has long ago observed,
is a strain in which everyone at all times, even under a democratical government,
indulges with impunity, and without provoking any opponent to reply. In this

_ instance the hard fate of Miltiadés has been imputed to the vices of the Athenians

and their democracy—it has been cited in proof partly of their fickleness, partly

.of their ingratitude..... Of the despots who gained power in Greece, a con-

siderable proportion began by popular conduct and by rendering good service to
their fellow-citizens ; having first earned public gratitude, they abused it for pur-
poses of their own ambition. There was far greater danger, in a Grecian com-
munity, of dangerous excess of gratitude towards a victorious soldier, than of
deficiency in that sentiment. The person thus exalted acquired a position such
that the community found it difficult afterwards to shake him off. Now there is
a disposition almost universal among writers and readers to side with an individual,
especially an eminent individual, against the multitude. Accordingly, those who,
under such circumstances, suspect the probable abuse of an exalted position, are
denounced as if they harboured an unworthy jealousy of superior abilities ; but
the truth is that the largest analogies of the Grecian character justified that suspi-
cion, and required the community to take precautions against the corrupting
effects of their own enthusiasm. There is no feature which more largely pervades
the impressible Grecian character than a liability to be intoxicated and demoralised
by success; there was no fault from which so few eminent Greeks were free ;
there was hardly any danger against which it was at once so necessary and so
difficult for the Grecian governments to take security, especially the demo-

Cc

18 THE GOVERNOUR.

lyue as it were in a communaltie, whiche abusifly they called
equalitie, howe longe tyme dyd any of them continue in peace ?
yea what vacation had they from the warres? or what noble
man had they whiche auanced the honour and weale of theyr
citie, whom they dyd not banisshe or slee in prison? Surely
it shall appiere to them that wyll rede Plutarche, or Emilius
probus, in the lyues of Milciades, Cimon, Themistocles, Aris-
tides, and diuers other noble and valiant capitaynes: which is
to longe here to reherce.

In lyke wyse the Romanes, durynge the tyme that they
Kyngs in Were under kynges, which was by the space of 144
Rome. yeres,? were well gouerned, nor neuer was amonge
them discorde or sedition. But after that by the persua-
tion of Brutus and Colatinus, whose wyfe (Lucretia)
was rauysshed by Aruncius, sonne of Tarquine,
kynge of Romanes, nat only the saide Tarquine and al his
posterite were exiled out of Rome for euer, but also it was
finally determined amonge the people, that neuer after they
wolde haue a kinge reigne ouer them.”

Lucretia.

cracies, where the manifestations of enthusiasm were always the loudest. Such
is the real explanation of those charges which have been urged against the
Grecian democracies, that they came to hate and ill-treat previous benefactors.
The history of Miltiadés illustrates it in a manner no less pointed than painful,’—
Hist. of Greece, vol. iii. pp. 316-321.’

@ ‘Dionysius gives 244 years as the length of the regal period (lib. i..cap. 75).
Livy (lib. i. 60) and other writers agree as tothe sum. Cic. de Rep. ii. 30, gives
it in round numbers at 240 years. Eutropius has 243 years.’ —Credibility of Early
Roman History, vol. i. p. 528. Niebuhr says that the discovery of the books
on the Republic has established the fact on the authority of the pontiffs, ‘for
their table was adopted by Polybius for his Roman chronology, and he is the
authority followed by Cicero in fixing the years of the Roman kings.’— Hist. of
Rome, vol. i. p. 242. As these books were not discovered until A.D, 1826, Sir
Thomas Elyot had no reason to prefer the computation of Polybius. It seems
probable, however, that there is an error in the figures in the text, and that the
number intended is that given by Dionysius.

» Sir George Cornewall Lewis says: ‘ The idea that a king was an absolute
monarch, which prevailed throughout the later ages of Rome, was probably in
part derived from the belief respecting the character of the last Tarquin’s rule,
though it is inconsistent with their own history of their other kings.’ Bf
of Early Roman History, vol. 1, p. 107.

THE GOVERNOUR. ‘ 19

Consequently the communaltie more and more encroched
a licence, and at the last compelled the Senate to suffre them
to chose yerely amonge them gouernours of theyr owne astate
and condition, whom they called Tribunes:* under
whom they resceyued suche audacitie and power that
they finally optained the higheste authoritie in the publike
weale, in so moche that often tymes they dyd repele the actes
of the Senate, and to those Tribunes mought a man appele
from the Senate or any other office or dignite.”

But what came therof in conclusion? Surely whan there
was any difficulte warre immynent, than were they constrained
to electe one soueraine and chiefe of all other, whom they
named Dictator, as it were commander, from whom it
was not laufull for any man to appele.° But bicause
there appered to be in hym the pristinate authorite and mai-

Tribunes.

Dictator.

« Dr. Liddell says: ‘The tribunes were not properly magistrates or officers,
for they had no express functions or official duties to discharge. They were sim-
ply Representatives and Protectors of the Plebs.’— Hist. of Rome, vol. i. p. 105.

> ‘Since the time of the Gracchi,’ says Dr. Liddell, ‘the Tribunes and the
Tribes had learnt their strength, and had gradually absorbed more and more, not
only of the Legislative, but also of the Executive power. Sylla struck a determined
blow at this democratic power. He ordained that candidates for the Tribunate
should necessarily be members of the Senate ; that no one who had been Tribune
should be capable of holding any curule office ; that no Tribune should have
power to propose a law to the Tribes ; and lastly, that the right of Intercession
should be limited to its original purpose—that is, that it should not be available
to stop Decrees of the Senate or Laws brought before the Senate, but only to
protect the personal liberty of citizens from the arbitrary power of the Higher
Magistrates. The Tribunes were thus effectually shackled, and their power re-
turned to the low condition in which it had been during the earlier period of its
existence.’— Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. p. 345.

¢ Sir George Cornewall Lewis says: ‘Dr. Arnold appears to me to be mis-
taken in supposing that the dictator was ‘‘liable, like the consuls, to be arraigned
after the expiration of his office for any acts of tyranny which he might have
committed during its continuance.” The power of the dictator was originally
absolute and not subject to appeal ; and such (notwithstanding the passage of
Festus, Oftim. Lex, p. 198) it probably always remained. Considering the
shortness of the term of office, this irresponsibility would have been nugatory,
if it had not been continuous. The security to the public was derived from
the limited duration of the office ; not from any subsequent legal remedy
against the officer.’— Credibility of Early Roman History, vol. ii. p. 48, note.

2

20 THE GOVERNOUR.

estie of a kyng,* they wolde no longer suffre hym to continue in
that dignite than by the space of vi. monethes, excepte he then
resigned it,” and by the consente of the people eftsones dyd
resume it. Finally, untill Octauius Augustus had distroyed
Warree Anthony, and also Brutus, and finisshed all the
Civile. Ciuile Warres, (that were so called by cause they were
betwene the same selfe Romane citezins,) the cite of Rome
was neuer longe quiete from factions or seditions amonge the
people. And if the nobles of Rome had nat ben men of ex-
cellent lernynge, wisedome, and prowesse, and that the Senate,
the moste noble counsaile in all the worlde, whiche was fyrste
ordayned by Romulus, and encreased by Tullus hostilius, the
thyrde kynge of Romanes, had nat continued and with great
difficultie retayned theyr authorite, I suppose verily that
the citie of Rome had ben utterly desolate sone after the
expellyng of Tarquine: and if it had bene eftsones renewed
it shulde haue bene twentye tymes distroyed before the tyme
that Augustus raigned: so moche discorde was euer in the
citie for lacke of one gouernour.®

* Dionysius of Halicarnassus, speaking of the institution of the dictatorship,
says : Ἣν δ᾽ ἄρα ἣ κρείττων ἀρχὴ τῆς κατὰ νόμους tupavvis.—Antig. Rom., lib. v.
cap. 70. And again, Οὗτος πρῶτος ἐν Ῥώμῃ μόναρχος ἀπεδείχθη, πολέμου τὲ καὶ
εἰρήνης καὶ πάντος ἄλλου πράγματος αὐτοκράτωρ...... τὸ γὲ τῆς ἐξουσίας μεγέθος, ἧς
ὃ δικτάτωρ ἔχει, ἥκιστα δήλουται ὑπὸ τοῦ ὀνόματος, ἐστὶ γὰρ αἰρέτη τυραννίς ἣ δικτα-
τορία.----Τὀίά., lib. v. cap. 73. Eutropius says: ‘ Neque quicquam similius potest
dici quam dictatura antiqua huic imperii potestati quam nunc Tranquillitas vestra
(i.e. the Emperor Valens) habet.’—Lib..i. cap. 12.

b ‘That a dictator appointed for formal and ceremonial purposes should have
abdicated as soon as his special functions were performed is not extraordinary ;
but that so many dictators should have spontaneously laid down absolute power,
even at the moment of victory, and often before their term of office was expired,
is a remarkable proof of the empire of law over the minds of the Romans, and of
their fixed constitutional habits even in early times.’—Credibility of Early Roman
fistory, vol. ii. p. 48.

¢ Dr. Liddell has traced very carefully the rise and progress of Roman des-
potism to its supreme assumption by Octavian. ‘The Roman world had long
been preparing for it. At no time had such authority been altogether alien from
the mind of the people of Rome. Dictatorships were frequent in their earlier
history. In later times the consuls were, by the will of the senate, raised to dic;
tatorial power to meet emergencies, military or civil. The despotic commands

iy -

THE GOVERNOUR. 21

But what nede we to serche so ferre from us, sens we haue
sufficient examples nere unto us? Beholde the astate zyponc60
of Florence* and Gene,” noble cites of Italy, what ἀρ Gene.

conferred upon Sylla and Pompey, the powers seized first by Czesar and after him
by the Triumvirate, were all of the same form as the authority conferred upon
Octavian—that is, all were in form at least temporary and provisional. The
disorders of the State required the intervention of one or more persons
endued with absolute authority. And whether power was vested in a Dic-
tator, such as Sylla and Cesar; in a sole Consul, such as Pompey; in a
commission of Three, such as the Triumvirate of Antony, Octavian, and Le-
pidus ; or in an Imperator, such as Octavian alone, the constitutional principle
was the same. These despotic powers were in every case, except in the cases
of Sylla and Cesar, granted for a definite term; even in Czesar’s case all his
Dictatorships, save the last, were conferred for limited periods. The Trium-
virate was renewed at intervals of five years, the imperial rule of Octavian at
intervals of ten, In theory these powers were conferred exceptionally for a tem-
porary purpose ; and when the purpose was served the exception was to yield
to the rule. Even in the reign of Octavian there were some persons credulous
enough to expect a restoration of the Republic. It belongs not to our present
purpose to examine in detail the arts of government by which a power formally
provisional and temporary was converted by the adroitness of the new ruler into
the substance and reality of a despotic monarchy... This belongs to the History of
the Empire.’—ist. of Rome, vol. ii. p. 518, 12th ed.

’ ® Throughout all the vicissitudes of party Florence had never yet lost sight
of republican institutions. Not that she had never accommodated herself to tem-
porary circumstances by naming a signior, Charles of Anjou had been invested
with that dignity for the term of ten years ; Robert, king of Naples, for five ; and
his son, the Duke of Calabria, was at his death, Signior of Florence. These
princes named the podesta, if not the priors; and were certainly pretty absolute
in their executive powers, though bound by oath not to alter the statutes of the
city. But their office had always beentemporary. Like the dictatorship of Rome
it was a confessed unavoidable evil; a suspension’ but not extinguishment of
rights. Like that, too; it was a dangerous precedent, through which crafty am-
bition and popular rashness might ultimately subvert the republic.’—Hallam,
Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 426. 12th ed. ἄντα

> Je. Genoa. ‘The annals of one of the few surviving republics, that of
Genoa, present to us, during the fifteenth as well as the preceding century, an in--
creasing series of revolutions, the shortest enumeration of which would occupy
several pages. Torn by the factions of Adorni and Fregosi, equal and eternal
rivals, to whom the whole patrician families of Doria and Fieschi were content to
become secondary, sometimes sinking, from weariness of civil tumult, into the
grasp of Milan or France, and again, from impatience of foreign subjection, start-
ing back from servitude to anarchy, the Genoa of those ages exhibits a singular
contrast to the calm and regular aristocracy of the next three centuries.’—Hallam
Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 494.

22 THE GOVERNOUR.

calamite haue they both ‘sustained by their owne fac-
tions, for lacke of a continuall gouernour. Ferrare* and
the moste excellent citie of Venise, the one hauyng
a duke,” the other an erle, seldome suffreth damage
excepte it happen by outwarde hostilitie. We have also an
example domisticall, whiche is moste necessary to be noted.
After that the Saxons by treason had expelled out of Eng-
Englande \ande the Britons, whiche were the auncient inhabit-
dewided. antes, this realme was deuyded in to sondry regions
or kyngdomes. O what mysery was the people than in.° O
howe this most noble Isle of the worlde was decerpt and rent
in pieces: the people pursued and hunted lyke wolfes or other
beastes sauage: none industrie auayled, no strength defended,
no riches profited. Who wolde than haue desired to haue
ben rather a man than a dogge: whan men either with
sworde or with hungre perisshed, hauynge no profit or susti-
nance of their owne corne® or catell, whiche by mutuall

Ferraria.

* «In 1208 the people of Ferrara set the fatal example of sacrificing their free-
dom for tranquillity, by electing Azzo VII., Marquis of Este, as their lord or
sovereign. —Iratiam, Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 382. 12th ed.

> «An hereditary prince could never have remained quiet in such trammels as
were imposed upon the Doge of Venice. But early prejudice accustoms men to
consider restraint, even upon themselves, as advantageous ; and the limitations of

ducal power appeared to every Venetian as fundamental as the great laws of the

English constitution do to ourselves; Many Doges of Venice, especially in the
middle ages, were considerable men ; but they were content with the functions
assigned to them, which, if they would avoid the tantalizing comparison of sovereign
princes, were enough for the ambition of republicans. . . . Compared with the
Tuscan republics, the tranquillity of Venice is truly striking.’—Hallam, Middle Ages,
vol. i. pp. 458, 459.

¢ ‘About the end of the eighth century the northern pirates began to ravage
the coast of England. By their command of the sea it was easy for them to harass
every part of an island presenting such an extent of coast as Britain ; the Saxons,
after a brave resistance, gradually gave way, and were on the brink of the same
servitude or extermination which their own arms had already brought ar the
ancient possessors.’—Hallam, A/iddle Ages, vol. ii. p. 269.

ΔΑ passage in Baker’s Chronicle, describing the state of the country in the time
of King Ethelred is probably quite as applicable to an earlier period: ‘the land was
emptied of all coin, and the English were brought so low that they were fain to
till and ear the ground whilst the Danes sate idle and eat the fruit of their labours.’
—p. 13, ed. 1730.

THE GOVERNOUR,. 23

warre was continually distroyed? yet the dogges, either
takynge that that men coulde nat quietly come by, or fedynge
on the deed bodies, whiche on euery parte laye scatered plen-
teously, dyd satisfie theyr hunger.*

Where finde ye any good lawes that at that tyme were
made and used, or any commendable monument of any sci-
ence or crafte in this realme occupied ? suche iniquitie semeth
to be than, that by the multitude of soueraigne gouernours
all thinges ‘had ben brought to confusion, if the noble Kynge
kynge Edgar had nat reduced the monarch to his 44gar.
pristinate astate and figure:” whiche brought to passe, reason
was reuiued, and people came to conformitie, and the realme
began to take comforte and to shewe some visage of a publike
weale : and so (lauded be god) haue continued : but nat beinge
alway in like astate or condition. All be it it is nat to be dis-
paired, but that the kynge our soueraigne lorde nowe reignynge,
and this realme alway hauynge one prince like unto his highnes,
equall to the auncient princis in vertue and courage, it shall be
reduced (god so disposynge) unto a publike weale excellynge
all other in preeminence of vertue and abundance of thynges
necessary. But for as moche as I do wel perceiue that to
write of the office or duetie of a soueraigne gouernour or
prince, farre excedeth the compasse of my lernyng, holy
scripture affirmyng that the hartes of princes be in goddes

*-The Anglo-Saxon Chronicler, who narrates the deeds of Athelstan and
his brother Edmund at the battle of Brunanburh, A.D. 937, says: ‘They left
behind them the swart raven with horned neb to share the pale-hued carcases ;
and the white-tailed eagle with goodly plumage, the greedy war-hawk, and that
grey beast the wolf in the weald, the carrion to devour.’—Znglish Version, p. 88,
note,

» That Edgar was considered by Anglo-Saxons as the greatest of their kings
in power and dominion we find from Elfric, who was nearly his contemporary. He
calls Edgar, “" of all the kings of the English nation, the most powerful ; and it
was the divine will that his enemies, both kings and earls, who came to him de-
siring peace, should without any battle be subjected to him to do what he willed.
Hence he was honoured over a wide extent of land.””’—Turner, Hist. of England,
vol. ii. p. 271. Modern historians have formed on the whole a less favourable
opinion of this monarch than the monkish chroniclers whose writings Sir Thomas
Elyot must have consulted.

24 THE GOVERNOUR.

owne handes and disposition,* I wyll therfore kepe my penne
within the space that is discribed to me by the thre noble .

maisters, reason, lernynge, and experience ; and by theyr en-
Bae seignement or teachyng I wyll ordinately treate of
Adminis» the two partes of a publike weale, wherof the one
wation. shall be named Due Administration, the other Neces-
Occupa- sary Occupation, whiche shall be deuided in to two vo-
smh lumes. In the fyrste shall be comprehended the beste
fourme of education or bringing up of noble children from their
natiuitie, in suche maner as they may be founde worthy, and
also able to be gouernours of a publike weale. The seconde
volume, whiche, god grantyng me quietnes and libertie of
mynde, I wyll shortly after sende forthe, it shall conteine all
the reminant, whiche I can either by léernyng or experience
fynde apt to the perfection of a iuste publike weale: in the
whiche I shall so endeuour my selfe, that al men, of what
astate or condition so euer they be, shall finde therin occasion
to be alway vertuously occupied ; and not without pleasure, if
they be nat of the scholes of Aristippus or Apicius, of whom
the one supposed felicite to be onely in lechery, the other in
delicate fedynge and glotony : from whose sharpe talones and
cruell tethe, I beseche all gentill reders, to defende these
warkes, whiche for theyr commodite is onely compiled.

CHAPTER III.

That in a publike weale ought to be inferiour gouernours
called Magistrates: whiche shall be appoynted or chosen by the the
soueraigne gouernour.
eee pg ee

THERE be bothe reasones and examples, undoutedly infinite,
wherby may be proued, that there can be no perfect publike

weale without one capital and soueraigne gouernour whiche —

* Prov. xxi. 1. The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of
water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.

-
΄
4

THE GOVERNOUR. » a5

may longe endure or continue. But sens one mortall man can

. nat haue knowlege of all thynges done in a realme or large

dominion, and at one tyme, discusse all controuersies, refourme
all transgressions, and exploite * al consultations, concluded as
well for outwarde as inwarde affaires: it is expedient and also
nedefull that under the capitall gouernour be sondry meane

_ authorities, as it were aydyng hym in the distribution of

iustice in sondry partes of a huge multitude: wherby his
labours beinge leuigate and made more tollerable, he shall
gouerne with the better aduise, and consequently with a more
perfecte gouernance. And, as Jesus Sirach sayth,
The multitude of wise men is the welth of the worlde.”
They whiche haue suche authorities to them committed may
be called inferiour gouernours, hauynge respecte to theyr office
or duetie, wherin is also a representation of gouernance. All
be it they be named in latine Magistratus. And herafter I
intende to call them Magistratis, lackynge an other more con-
uenient worde in englisshe ; but that will I do in the seconde

Sap. vt.

* See the Glossary. © ς

» ‘Jesus the son of Sirach is described in the text of Ecclesiasticus (cap. 1.) as
the author of that book, which in the LXX and generally, except in the Western
Church, is called by his name, the Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach, or simply
the Wisdom of Sirach. The same passage speaks of him as a native of Jerusalem,
and the internal character of the book confirms its Palestinian origin.’—Smith,
Hist. of the Bible, sab voc. ‘ The first distinct quotations occur in Clement of
Alexandria, but from the end of the second century the book was much used and
cited with respect, and in the same terms as the Canonical Scriptures ; and its
authorship was often assigned to Solomon from the similarity which it pre-
sented to his writings.’—Ibid. Zcclestasticus. Sir Thomas Elyot is mistaken in
referring the quotation to the book of Ecclesiasticus, for the passage occurs in

* Wisdom, cap. vi. 19, and in a copy of ‘The Bokes of Solomon,’ in the British

Museum, to which the date A.D, 1542 is assigned, the order is as follows:
Prouerbia, Ecclesiastes, Sapientia and Ecclesiasticus, or Fesus the sonne of Syrach ;
but if, as suggested by the writer of the article in Smith’s Dict, of the Bible, the
alternative title of the Wisdom of Sirach is occasionally found, it is not difficult to
see how Sir Thomas Elyot may have fallen into an error arising from the applica-
tion of the same title to two different but not dissimilar works. In ‘The Bokes of
Salomon’ the verse quoted in the text stands thus: ‘ But the multitude of the
wise is ye welfare of the worlde, and a wyse kynge is the upholdynge of the
people,’

26 THE GOVERNOUR.

parte of this warke, where I purpose to write of theyr sondry
offices or effectes of theyr authoritie. But for as moche as in
this parte I intende to write of theyr education and vertue in
maners, whiche they haue in commune with princes, in as moche
as therby they shall, as well by example as by authoritie, ordre
well them, whiche by theyr capitall gouernour shall be to theyr
rule committed, I may, without anoyance of any man,name them
gouernours at this tyme, apropriatynge,to the soueraignes,names
of kynges and princes, sens of a longe custome these names in
commune fourme of speakyng be in a higher preeminence
and estimation than gouernours. That in euery commune
weale ought to be a great nombre of suche maner of persons
it is partly proued in the chaptre nexte before writen, where

I haue spoken of the commodite of ordre. Also reason and@

commune experience playnly declareth, that, where the
dominion is large and populouse, there is hit convenient that a
prince haue many inferiour gouernours, whiche be named of
Politic. Aristotel* his eien, eares, handes, and legges, whiche,
ἠδ. wi. if they beof the beste sorte, (as he further moresaythe),
it semeth impossible a countrey nat to be well gouerned by
good lawes. And excepte excellent vertue and lernynge do
inhabile® a man of the base astate of the communaltie, to be
thought of all men worthy to be so moche auaunced : els suche
gouernours wolde be chosen out of that astate of men whiche
be called worshipfull, if amonge them may be founden a suffi-
cient nombre, ornate with vertue and wisedome, mete for suche
purpose, and that for sondry causes.

Fyrste it is of good congruence that they, whiche be supe-
riour in condition or hauiour, shulde haue also preeminence in

* See Pol. lib. iii. cap. xi. (xvi.): Ἄτοπον δ᾽ ἴσως ἂν εἶναι δόξειεν, εἰ βέλτιον
ἴδοι τις δυοῖν ὄμμασι καὶ δυσὶν ἀκοαῖς κρίνων, καὶ πράττων δυσὶ ποσὶ καὶ χερσὶν, ἢ
πολλοὶ πολλοῖς " ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν ὀῤθαλμοὺς πολλοὺς οἱ μόναρχοι ποιοῦσιν αὐτῶν καὶ. ὦτα
καὶ χεῖρας καὶ πόδας " τοὺς γὰρ τῇ ἀρχῇ καὶ αὑτοῖς φίλους ποιοῦνται συνάρχους. μὴ
φίλοι μὲν οὖν ὄντες οὐ ποιήσουσι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μονάρχου προαίρεσιν. εἰ δὲ φίλοι κἀ-
κείνου καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὅ τε φίλος ἴσος καὶ ὅμιλος. ὥστ᾽, εἰ τούτους οἴεται δεῖν ἄρχειν,
τοὺς ἴσους καὶ ὁμοίους ἄρχειν οἴεται δεῖν ὁμοίως.

» See the Glossary.

THE GOVERNOUR. 27

administration, if they be nat inferiour to other in vertue,
Also they hauinge of their owne reuenues certeine wherby
they haué “competent~substancé “to Tyvewithout takyng
rewardes : it is _ykely that” they wyll nat be so desirous of
luére, (wherof may be engendred corruption), as they” whiche
haue very litle or nothynge 80 ce: certeyne. Bist ote

More ouer where vertue is in a gentyll man, it is commenly
mixte with more sufferance, more affabilitie, and myldenes, than
for the more parte it is in a persone rural, or of a very base
linage ; and whan it hapneth other wise, it is to be accompted
lothesome and monstruous, Furthermore, where the persone
is worshypfull, his gouernaunce, though it be sharpe, is to the
people more tollerable, and they therwith the lasse grutch, or
be dissobedient. Also suche men, hauyng substance in goodes
by certeyne and stable possessions, whiche they may apor-
cionate to their owne liuynge, and bryngynge up of theyr
children in lernyng and vertues, may, (if nature repugne nat),
cause them to be so instructed and furnisshed towarde the
administration of a publike weale, that a poure mannes sonne,
onely by his naturall witte, without other adminiculation* or
aide, neuer or seldome may atteyne to the semblable. Towarde —
the whiche instruction I haue, with no litle study and labours,
prepared this warke,” as almighty god be my iuge, without ©
arrogance or any sparke of vayne glorie: but only to declare
the feruent zele that I haue to my countrey, and that I desyre
only to employ that poure lerning, that I haue gotten, to the
benefite thereof, and to the recreation of all the reders that
be of any noble or gentill courage, gyuynge them occasion to
eschewe idelnes, beynge occupied in redynge this warke,
infarced “ througly with suche histories and sentences wherby
they shal take, they them selfes confessing, no lytell commodite

* See the Glossary.

» From hence to the end of the chapter is a hiatus valde deflendus in all the
subsequent editions.

© Infarced, ze. ‘stuffed full of,’ from the Latin xfarcio or infercio ; cf. Οἷς,
Or. cap. Ixix.: ‘neque inferciens verba quasi rimas expleat.’

\

28 THE GOVERNOUR.

if they will more than ones or twyse rede it. The first reding
being to them newe, the seconde delicious, and, euery tyme
after, more and more frutefull and excellent profitable.

CHAPTER IV.

The education or fourme of bringing up of the childe of a gentilman,
which ts to haue authoritie in a publike weale.

_ For as moche as all noble authors do conclude, and also com-

mune experience proueth, that where the gouernours of realmes
and cities be foundenadourned with vertues, and do employ theyr
study and mynde to the publike weale, as well to the augmen-
tation therof as to the establysshynge and longe continuaunce of
the same: there a publike weale must nedes be both honorable
and welthy. To the entent that I wyll declare howe suche

Education Petsonages may be prepared, I will use the policie of

ofnoble a wyse and counnynge gardener : who purposynge to
wittes. haue in his gardeine a fyne and preciouse herbe, that

shulde be to hym and all other repairynge therto, excellently -

comodiouse or pleasant, he will first serche throughout his
gardeyne where he can finde the most melowe and fertile
erth: and therin wil he put the sede of the herbe to growe
and be norisshed: and in most diligent wise attende that no
weede be suffred to growe or aproche nyghe unto it: and to
the entent it may thrive the faster, as soone as the fourme of
an herbe ones appereth, he will set a vessell of water by hit, in
suche wyse that it may continually distille on the rote swete
Groppes ; and as it spryngeth in stalke, under sette it with
some thyng that it breake nat, and alway kepe it cleane from
weedes. Semblable ordre will I ensue in the fourmynge the
gentill wittes of noble mennes children, who, from the wombes
of their mother, shal be made propise or apte to the gouern-

\ aunce of a publike weale. .

\\

iy

THE GOVERNOUR. δος ΑΜ

Fyrste, they, unto whom the bringing up of suche chil-
dren apperteineth, oughte, againe the time that their mother
shall be of them deliuered, to be sure of a nourise .

ς : ca Ν LNorices,
whiche shulde be of no seruile condition or vice no- jow they
table. For, as some auncient writers do suppose, ha Ἀν
often times the childe soukethe the vice of his i
nouryse with the milke of her pappe.* And also obserue that
she be of mature or ripe age, nat under xx yeres, or aboue
xxx, her body also beinge clene from all sikenes or deformite,
and hauing her complection’ most of the right and pure san-
guine. For as moche as the milke therof comminge excelleth
all other bothe in swetenes and substance.” More ouer , ‘omar.
to the nourise shulde be appointed an other woman of esse or _
approued vertue, discretion, and grauitie, who shall “7?”
nat suffre, in the childes presence, to be shewed any acte or
tache® dishonest, or any wanton or unclene worde to be
spoken’: and for that cause al men, except physitions only,
shulde be excluded and kepte out of the norisery. Perchance
some wyll scorne me for that I am so serious, sainge that
ther is no suche damage to be fered in an infant, who for ten-
dernes of yeres hath nat the understanding to decerne good
from iuell. And yet no man wyll denie, but in that innocency
he wyll decerne milke from butter, and breadde from pappe,
and er he can speake he wyll with his hande or countenaunce

® Cicero, Zusc. Quest. iii. cap. 1: ut pene cum lacte nutricis errorem suxisse
videamur.

» These delicate questions were by no means confined in the sixteenth century
to the ladies and physicians, for Wilson, in his Arte of Rhetorigque, says: ‘ Againe
the childrens bodies shall be so affected, as the milke is which they receive. Now
if the nurse bee of an euill complection, or haue some hid disease, the childe suck-
ing of her breast must needes take parte with her. And if that bee true, whiche
the learned doe saie, that the temperature of the minde followes the constitution
of the bodie, needes must it bee, that if the nurse be of a naughtie nature, the
childe must take thereafter. But if it bee, the nurse bee of a good complexion,
of an honest behauiour (whereas contrarywise, Maidens that haue made a scape are
commonly called to be nurses), yet can it not be, but that the mother’s milke
should be much more natural for the childe then the milke of a straunger.’—p. 111.

® See the Glossary.

---

30 THE GOVERNOUR.

signifie whiche he desireth. And I verily do suppose that in
the braynes and hertes of children, whiche be membres spi-
rituall, whiles they be tender, and the litle slippes of reason
begynne in them to burgine, ther may happe by iuel cus-
tome some pestiferous dewe of vice to perse* the sayde
membres, and infecte and corrupt the softe and tender buddes,
wherby the frute may growe wylde, and some tyme conteine
in it feruent and mortal poyson, to the utter destruction of a
realme. ; .

And we haue in daily experience that litle infantes as-
sayeth to folowe, nat onely the wordes, but also the
faictes and gesture, of them that be prouecte”. in
yeres. For we daylye here, to our great heuines, children
swere great othes and speake lasciuious and unclene wordes,
by the example of other whom they heare, wherat the leude
parentes do reioyce, sone after, or in this worlde, or els where,
to theyr great payne and tourment. Contrary wise we
beholde some chyldren, knelynge in theyr game before images,
and holdyng up theyr lytell whyte handes, do moue theyr
praty mouthes, as they were prayeng:° other goynge and
syngynge as hit were in procession : wherby they do expresse

* 72. pierce.

> Ze. advanced, adapted from the Latin proveho. Compare Cicero’s use of
the word : ‘Quamquam eum colere ccepi non admodum grandem natu sed tamen
jam etate provectum.’—De Senect. 4.

° Knight, in his Zzfe of Colet, reprints the latter’s preface to his Grammar,
which concludes with the following sentence: ‘And lyfte up your lytell whyte
handes for me, whiche prayethe for you to God; to whom be all honour and im-
periall maiesty and glory. Amen.’ Knight assigns 1534 as the date of the gram-
mar and Wynkyn de Worde as the printer. It is not a little remarkable that
in the two copies in the British Museum the words just quoted are omitted.
This fact has apparently escaped the notice of Mr. Seebohm, as although he prints
the preface z extenso and vouches Knight as his authority he makes no allusion
to the omission. The words may have been considered objectionable ; they were
undoubtedly left out by design, not by accident. Mr. Garnett, of the British
Museum, to whose courtesy the editor has been constantly indebted during the
preparation of this work for the press, suggests that the discrepancy may be ac-
counted for by the fact that the edition of 1535 (of which copies are in the B. M.
library) was printed at Antwerp, possibly under the supervision of Tyndale, and
the paragraph in question may have been suppressed as savouring of popery.

Infancie.

se

THE GOVERNOUR. 31

theyr disposition to the imitation of those thynges, be they
good or iuell, whiche they usually do se or here. Wherfore nat
only princis, but also all other children, from their norises
pappes, are to be kepte diligently from the herynge or seynge
_ of any vice or euyl tache. And incontinent as sone as they
can speake, it behoueth, with most pleasaunt allurynges, to
instill in them swete maners and vertuouse custome. Also
to prouide for them suche companions and playfelowes, whiche
shal nat do in his presence any reprocheable acte, or speake
any uncleane worde or othe, ne to aduaunt* hym with flatery,
remembrynge his nobilitie, or any other like thyng wherin he
mought glory ἢ onlas it be to persuade hym to vertue, or to
withdrawe him from vice, in the remembryng to hym the
daunger of his iuell example. For noble men more greuously
offende by theyr example than by their dede. Yet often re-
membrance to them of their astate may happen to radycate®
in theyr hartes intollerable pride, the moost daungerous poyson
-to noblenes: wherfore there is required to be therein moche
cautele* and sobrenesse.

CHAPTER V.°

The ordre of lernynge that a noble man shulde be trayned in before
he come to thaige of seuen yeres,

SoME olde autours holde oppinion that, before the age of
seuen yeres, a chylde shulde nat be instructed in letters ;* but

5. See the Glossary.

> From here to the end of the chapter is Aratus valde deflendus in Mr. Eliot’s
edition.

¢ 7,4. implant—an adaptation from the Latin. The word vadicor is only used
in an intransitive sense, and by such writers as Pliny and Columella.

ἃ The Latin cawtela, * caution.’

¢ The whole of this as well as of the following chapter is omitted by Mr. Eliot
in his edition of the Governour.

* Evidently an allusion to the passage in Quintilian, Lnstit. Or. lib. i. cap. i. § 12.2
‘Quidam litteris instituendos, qui minores septem annis essent, non putaverunt,

ν

32 THE GOVERNOUR.

-

those writers were either grekes or latines, amonge whom
all doctrine and sciences were in their maternall tonges; by
reason wherof they saued all that longe tyme whiche at this
dayes is spente in understandyng perfectly the greke or
latyne. Wherfore it requireth nowe a longer tyme to the
understandynge of bothe.* Therfore that infelicitie of our
tyme and countray compelleth us to encroche some what
upon the yeres of children, and» specially of noble men, that
they may sooner attayne to wisedome and grauitie than
priuate persones, consideryng, as I haue saide, their charge
and example, whiche, aboue all thynges, is most to be estemed.
Nat withstandyng, I wolde nat haue them inforcéd by violence
to lerne, but accordynge to the counsaile of Quintilian, to be
swetely allured therto with praises and suche praty gyftes as
children delite in.” And their fyrst letters to be paynted or
lymned ina pleasaunt maner: where in children of gentyl
courage haue moche delectation. And also there is no better
allectyue* to noble wyttes than to induce them in to a con-

quod illa primum eetas et intellectum disciplinarum capere et laborem pati posset. -

In qua sententié Hesiodum esse plurimi tradunt.’ Cf. also Aristotle, Pol. lib. vii.
cap. xv. (xvii): Ταύτην γὰρ τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ μέχρι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἐτῶν ἀναγκαῖον οἴκοι τὴν
τροφὴν ἔχειν. .... Διελθόντων δὲ τῶν πέντε ἐτῶν, τὰ δύο μέχρι τῶν ἑπτὰ δεῖ θεωροὺς
ἤδη γίγνεσθαι τῶν μαθήσεων, ἂς δεήσει μανθάνειν αὐτούς. Δύο δ᾽ εἰσὶν ἡλικίαι, πρὸς ἃς
ἀναγκαῖον διῃρῆσθαι τὴν παιδείαν, μετὰ τὴν ard τῶν ἑπτὰ μέχρι ἥβης, καὶ πάλιν μετὰ
τὴν ἀφ᾽ ἥβης μέχρι τῶν ἑνὸς καὶ εἴκοσιν ἐτῶν. ;

« Hieronymus Wolf, who was rector of a Gymnasium at Augsburg, uses very
similar language ; he says, in his essay on Education, entitled ‘ Docendi discendique
Ratio,’ published about 1576: ‘ Felices fuisse Latinos qui unam Greecam linguam
didicerunt, idque non tam preeceptis quam commercio Graecorum, absque ulla diffi-
cultate : feliciores Graecos, qui sua lingua contenti, ac tantum legendi scribendique
peritia instructi, statim ad artium liberalium et Philosophize studium animos ad-
junxerunt. Nos‘vero, quibus magna zetatis pars linguis peregrinis discendis elabatur,
et tot obices, tot remorze ante Philosophize fores obsistant (sunt enim Latina et
Greeca lingua non tam ipsa eruditio, quam eruditionis fores aut vestibulum) haud
injuria fortunas nostras miserari.’

> “Lusus hic sit: et rogetur, et laudetur, et nunquam non scissé se gaudeat,
aliquando ipso nolente doceatur alius, cui invideat ; contendat interim, et seepius
vincere se putet ; preemiis etiam, quee capit illa etas, evocetur.’—Quintilian, Zzs¢it,
Orat. lib. i, cap. i. § 20.

© See the Glossary.

THE GOVERNOUR. 33

tention with their inferiour companions: they somtyme pur-
posely suffring the more noble children to vainquysshe, and,
as it were, gyuying to them place and soueraintie, thoughe in
dede the inferiour chyldren haue more lernyng.* But there
can be nothyng more conuenient than by litle and litle to
trayne and exercise them in spekyng of latyne: infourmyng
them to knowe first the names in latine of all thynges that
cometh in syghte, and to name all the partes of theyr bodies:
and gyuynge them some what that they couete or desyre, in
most gentyl maner to teache them to aske it agayne in latine.
And if by this meanes they may be induced to understande
and speke latine: it shall afterwarde be lasse grefe to them, in
a maner, to lerne any thing, where they understande the
langage wherein it is writen. And, as touchynge grammere,
there is at this day better introductions, and more facile, than
euer before were made, concernyng as wel greke as latine, if
they be wisely chosen.” And hit shal be no reproche ;,
to a noble man to instruct his owne children, or at son in
the leest wayes to examine them, by the way of snfancie,
daliaunce or solace, considerynge that the emperour Octauius
Augustus disdayned nat to rede the warkes of Cicero and
Virgile to his children and neuewes.°. And why shulde nat

* When it was proposed in 1540 that only the sons of gentlemen should be
admitted to the Cathedral School at Canterbury, Cranmer spoke out boldly, and
said, ‘Poor men’s children are many times endued with more singular gifts of
nature, which are also the gifts of God, as with eloquence, memory, apt pro-
nunciation, sobriety, and such like; and also commonly more apt to apply their
study than is the gentleman’s son delicately educated. Wherefore, if the gentle-
man’s son be apt to learning, let him be admitted ; if not apt let the poor man’s
child that is apt enter his room.’—Strype, Mem. of Cranmer, vol. i. p. 127.

> The words ‘if they be wisely chosen’ are omitted in all the subsequent
editions. Hallam must surely have overlooked this passage, or he would hardly
have said ‘ No Greek grammars or lexicons were yet (¢.e. down to 1550) printed
in England.’—Zit. of Europe, vol. i. p. 352, 5th ed.

¢ Suetonius merely says, ‘ Nepotes et literas, et notare, aliaque rudimenta, per
se plerumque docuit.’— Oct, 64. But an anecdote narrated by Plutarch to some
extent supports the assertion in the text : Πυνθάνομαι δὲ Καίσαρα χρόνοις πολλοῖς
ὕστερον εἰσελθεῖν πρὸς Eva τῶν θυγατριδῶν " τὸν δὲ βιβλίον ἔχοντα Κικέρωνος ἐν ταῖς
χεοσὶν ἐκπλαγέντα τῷ ἱματίῳ περικαλύπτειν " ἰδόντα δὲ Καίσαρα λαβεῖν καὶ διελθεῖν

D

34 THE GOVERNOUR.

noble men rather so do, than teache their children howe at
dyse and cardes, they may counnyngly lese and consume theyr
owne treasure and substaunce? Moreouer teachynge repre-
Dionise senteth the auctoritie of a prince: wherfore Dionyse,
the tyrant. kkynge of Sicile, whan he was for tyranny expelled
by his people, he came in to Italy, and there in a commune
schole taught grammer,*® where with, whan he was of his
enemies embraided, and called a schole maister, he answered
them, that al though Sicilians had exiled hym, yet in despite
of them all he reigned,” notynge therby the authorite that he
had ouer his scholers. Also whan hit was of hym demanded
what auailed hym Plato or philosophy, wherin he had ben
studious: he aunswered that they caused hym to sustayne
aduersitie paciently, and made his exile to be to hym more
facile and easy : whiche courage and wysedome consydered
of his people, they eftsones restored him unto his realme and
astate roiall, where, if he had procured agayne them hostilite
or warres, or had returned in to Sicile with any violence, I
suppose the people wolde haue alway resysted hym, and haue
kepte hym in perpetuall exile: as the romaynes dyd the
proude kynge Tarquine, whose sonne rauysshed Lucrece. But
to retourne to my purpose, hit shall be expedient that a noble

ἑστῶτα μέρος πολὺ τοῦ βιβλίου πάλιν δ᾽ ἀποδιδόντα τῷ μειρακίῳ φάναι " “ Adyios ἄνὴρ,
ὦ παῖ, λόγιος καὶ pirdrarpis.’—Cicero, 49. Aurelius Victor says: ‘ Diligebat
preterea Virgilium.’—Zfitome, cap. i. 17.

5. Justin says : ‘ Novissimé ludimagistrum professus, pueros in trivio docebat, ut
aut ἃ timentibus semper in publico videretur aut ἃ non timentibus facilius contem-
neretur.’—Lib. xxi. cap. 5. Compare Valerius Max. lib. vi. cap. ix. ext. 6;
Cicero, Zusc. Quest. lib. iii. cap. 12 ; and Lucian, Somnium, cap. xxiii. ®lian

describes him as μητραγυρτῶν καὶ κρούων τύμπανα καὶ καταυλούμενος..--- Var. Hist.

lib. ix. § 8.

» mi incident is not related by Plutarch. Cicero’s comment on his occupa-
tion as a schoolmaster is, ‘ usque eo imperio carere non poterat.’ It is not impro-
bable that the answer given above is a mere fanciful addition or expansion of this
idea.

© Τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐν Κορίνθῳ ξένου τινὸς ἀγροικότερον eis τὰς μετὰ τῶν φιλοσόφων
διατριβὰς, αἷς τυραννῶν ἔχαιρε, χλευάζοντος αὐτὸν καὶ τέλος ἐρωτῶντος, τί δὴ τῆς
Πλάτωνος ἀπολαύσειε σοφίας, ‘ οὐδὲν, ἔφη, σοὶ δοκοῦμεν ὑπὸ Πλάτωνος ὠφελῆσθαι τύχης
μεταβολὴν οὕτω φεροντες ;’—Plutarch, Zimoleon, 15. '

THE GOVERNOUR. 35

mannes sonne, in his infancie, haue with hym continually onely
suche as may accustome hym by litle and litle to speake pure |
and elegant latin. Semblably the nourises and other women
aboute hym, if it be possible, to do the same: or, at the leste

way, that they speke none englisshe but that which is cleane,

polite, perfectly and articulately pronounced, omittinge no lettre
or sillable, as folisshe women often times do of a wantonnesse,
wherby diuers noble men and gentilmennes chyldren, (as I do
at this daye knowe), haue attained corrupte and foule pro-
nuntiation.

This industry used in fourminge litel infantes, who shall
dought, but that they, (not lackyng naturall witte,) shall be
apt to receyue lerninge, whan they come to mo yeres? And
in this wise maye they be instructed, without any violence or
inforsinge: using the more parte of the time, until they come
to the age of vii yeres, in suche disportis, as do appertaine to
children, wherin is no resemblance or similitude of vice.

CHAPTER VI.

At what age a tutour shulde be prouided, and what shall appertaine
to his office to do.

AFTER that a childe is come to seuen yeres of age, I holde
it expedient that he be taken from the company of women:
sauynge that he may haue, one yere, or two at the most, an
auncient and sad matrone, attendynge on hym in his chambre,
whiche shall nat haue any yonge woman in her company: for
though there be no perille of offence in that tender and inno-
cent age, yet, in some children, nature is more prone to vice
than to vertue, and in the tender wittes be sparkes-of volup-
tuositie : whiche, norished by any occasion or obiecte, encrease
often tymes in to so terrible a fire, that therwith all vertue and

reason is consumed. Wherfore, to eschewe that daunger, the
D2

36 THE GOVERNOUR.

most sure counsaile is, to withdrawe him from all company of

women, and to assigne unto hym a tutor, whiche shulde be an -

auncient and worshipfull man, in whom is aproued to be moche
gentilnes, mixte with grauitie, and, as nighe as can be, suche
one as the childe by imitation folowynge may growe to be
excellent. And if he be also lerned, he is the more commend-
able. Peleus, the father of Achilles, committed the gouer-
Phenix, Naunce of his sonne to Phenix, which was a straunger
Achille? borne: who, as well in speakyng elegantly as in doinge
ee valiauntly, was maister to Achilles (as Homere saith*)
Howe moche profited hit to kynge Philip, father to the great
Epami. Alexander, that he was deliuered in hostage to the

nondas, ‘Thebanes? where he was kepte and brought up under

tutor to Ἵ
kynge the gouernance of Epaminondas,” a noble and va-

Phli~, _ liant capitaine: of whom he receiued_suche lernynge,

* Zi. ix. 432: foll.
“Owe δὲ δὴ μετέειπε γέρων ἱππηλάτα Φοῖνιξ
* * * * * *
πῶς by ἔπειτ᾽ ἀπὸ σεῖο, φίλον τέκος, αὖθι λιποίμην
οἷος ; σοὶ δὲ μ᾽ ἔπεμπε γέρων ἱππηλάτα Πηλεὺς
ἤματι τῷ, ὅτε σ᾽ ἐκ Φθίης ᾿Αγαμέμνονι πέμπε
νήπιον, οὕπω εἰδόθ' ὁμοιΐου πολέμοιο,
οὐδ᾽ ἀγορέων, ἵνα τ᾽ ἄνδρες ἀριπρεπέες τελέθουσι.
τοὔνεκά με προέηκε διδασκέμεναι τάδε πάντα,
μύθων τε ῥητῆρ᾽ ἔμεναι, πρηκτῆρά τε ἔργων.
> Diodorus Siculus, lib. xvi. cap. 2: Οὗτοι δὲ τῷ ᾿Επαμεινώνδου πατρὶ παρέθεντο
τὸν νεανίσκον, καὶ προσέταξαν ἅμα τηρεῖν ἐπιμελῶς τὴν παρακαταθήκην καὶ προστατεῖν
τῆς ἀγωγῆς καὶ παιδείας. Τοῦ δ᾽ ᾿Επαμεινώνδου Πυθαγόρειον ἔχοντος φιλόσοφον
ἐπιστάτην, συντρεφόμενος 6 Φίλιππος μετέσχεν ἐπὶ πλεῖον τῶν Πυθαγορείων λόγων.
᾿Αμφοτέρων δὲ τῶν μαθητῶν προσενεγκαμένων φύσιν τε καὶ φιλοπονίαν, ὑπῆρξαν ἑκάτε-
por διαφέροντες ἀρετῇ. Ὧν ᾿Επαμεινώνδας μὲν μεγάλους ἀγῶνας καὶ κινδύνους ὑπο-
μείνας, τῇ πατρίδι παραδόξως τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῆς Ἑλλάδος περιέθηκεν, ὃ δὲ Φίλιππος,
ταῖς αὐταῖς. ἀφορμαῖς χρησάμενος, οὐκ ἀπελείφθη τῆς ᾿Επαμεινώνδου 56éns—which
hardly supports the assertion in the text that Philip was ‘brought up wxder the

governance’ of Epaminondas. The writer of the article on Philip in Smith’s Dict. ©

of Biography says: ‘ As for that part of the account of Diodorus which represents
Philip as pursuing his studies in company with Epaminondas it is sufficiently re-
futed by chronology ; nor would it seem that his attention at Thebes was directed
to speculative philosophy so much as to those more practical points, the knowledge
of which he afterwards found so useful for his purposes—military tactics, the
language and politics of Greece, and the characters of its people.’

THE GOVERNOUR. 37

as well in actes martiall as in other liberal sciences, that he
excelled all other kynges that were before his tyme in Grece,
and finally, as well by wisedome as prowes, subdued all that
countray. Semblably he ordayned for his sonne Alexander
-a noble tutor called Leonidas, unto whom, for his
wisedome, humanitie, and lernyng, he committed the SEN,
rule and preeminence ouer all the maisters and Oe
seruantes of Alexander.* In whom, nat withstandyng, ν
was suche a familier vice, whiche Alexander apprehending in
childhode coulde neuer abandon :” some suppose it to be fury
and hastines, other superfluous drinking of wyne:° whiche of
them it were, it is a good warnyng for gentilmen to be the
more serious, inserching, nat only for the vertues, but also for

5 Πολλοὶ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἦσαν αὐτοῦ τροφεῖς καὶ παιδαγωγοὶ
καὶ διδάσκαλοι λεγόμενοι, πᾶσι δ᾽ ἐφειστήκει Λεωνίδας, ἀνὴρ τό τε ἦθος αὐστηρὸς καὶ
συγγενὴς ᾿Ολυμπίαδος " αὐτὸς μὲν οὐ φεύγων τὸ τῆς παιδαγωγίας ὄνομα καλὸν ἔργον
ἐχούσης καὶ λαμπρόν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων διὰ τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶ τὴν οἰκειότητα τροφεὺς
᾿Αλεξάνδρου καὶ καθηγητὴς Kadovpevos.—Plut. Alexander, 5.

» Siquidem Leonides Alexandri peedagogus, ut ἃ Babylonio Diogene traditur,
quibusdum eum vitiis imbuit, que robustum quoque et jam maximum regem, ab
illd institutione puerili sunt prosecuta.—Quintil. /ystit. Ovat. lib. i. cap. i. ὃ 9.
Spalding, in his commentary upon this passage, says that there is no mention, in
other writers, of the bad habits which Alexander contracted from his tutor except
an allusion to them by a writer of the ninth century, Hincmar Archbishop of
Rheims, who says: Et legimus quomodo Alexander in pueritia sua habuit bajulum
nomine Leonidem citatis moribus et incomposito incessu notabilem que puer quasi
lac adulterinum ab eo sumpsit.—Z7rstole, lib. iii. cap. 1. ed. 1602, And in
another place he says: Et quia legimus de Alexandro Magno, cujus pedagogus
Leonides nomine fuit, gudd citatos mores et inhonestum incessum habens, &c.—
Tbid. 110. ii. cap. 2. Hincmar refers to the passage above quoted from Quintilian,
as his authority for the statement ; and Spalding, who has evidently overlooked
the passage in Curtius, says: Czéati mores quid sit ignoro nisi forte sunt mali,
famosi. And he repudiates the reading motibus for moribus, because, he says,
Hincmar has used the same expression twice over, but there is very little doubt
that Hincmar had in his mind the following passage, although he erroneously
refers to Quintilian : Citatiorem gressum Leonidz vitium fuisse ferunt ; ex ipsius
consuetudine id heesisse Alexandro: quod postea, cum enixe vellet, corrigere non
potuerit.—Q. Curtius, lib. i. cap. 2, § 14.

᾿Αλέξανδρον δὲ ἡ θερμότης τοῦ σώματος, ws ἔοικε, καὶ ποτικὸν καὶ θυμοειδῇ
mapeixev.—Plutarch, Alexander 4. ‘Ut quidam putant ad vinum iramque pro-
clivior.’—Q. Curtius, lib. i. cap. 2, § 17.

i THE GOVERNOUR.

the vices of them, unto whose tuition and gouernance they
will committe their children.

The office of a tutor is firste to knowe the nature of his
Office of a pupil, that is to say, wherto he is mooste inclined or
tutor. disposed, and in what thyng he. setteth his most
delectation or appetite. If he be of nature curtaise, piteouse,
and of a free and liberall harte, it is a principall token of
grace, (as hit is by all scripture determined.) Than shall a
wyse tutor purposely commende those vertues, extolling also
his pupill for hauyng of them; and therewith he shall declare
them to be of all men mooste fortunate, whiche shall happen
to haue suche a maister. And moreouer shall declare to hym
what honour, what loue, what commodite shall happen to him
by these vertues. And, if any haue ben of disposition contrary,
than to expresse the enormities of theyr vice, with as moche
detestation as may be. And if any daunger haue therby
ensued, misfortune, or punisshement, to agreue* it in suche
wyse, with so vehement wordes, as the childe may abhorre it,
and feare the semblable aduenture.

CHAPTER VII.»

In what wise musike may be to a noble man necessarie: and what
modestie ought to be therin.

THE discretion of a tutor consisteth in temperance: that is to
saye, that he suffre nat the childe to be fatigate with continuall
studie or lernyng, wherwith the delicate and tender witte may
be dulled or oppressed: but that there may be there with
entrelased and mixte some pleasaunt lernynge and exercise,
as playenge on instruments of musike, whiche moderately used
and without diminution of honour, that is to say, without
wanton countenance and dissolute gesture, is nat to be con-

* See the Glossary.
Ὁ The first part of this chapter is entirely omitted in Mr. Eliot's edition,

THE GOVERNOUR. 39

temned. For the noble kynge and prophete Dauid, kyng of
Israell (whom almighty god said that he had chosen as a man
accordinge to his harte or desire*) duringe his lyfe, delited in
musike : and with the swete harmony that he made on his
_ harpe, he constrayned the iuell spirite that vexed kynge Saul
” to forsake hym, continuynge the tyme that he harped.®

The mooste noble and valiant princis of Grece often
tymes, to recreate their spirites, and in augmenting their
courage, enbraced instrumentes musicall. So dyd the ΤΣ

ΣΝ
valiaunt Achilles, (as Homere saith), who after the Zomerus,
sharpe and vehement contention, betwene him and /“ados
. . . 717720.

Agamemnon, for the taking away of his concubine:
wherby he, being set in a fury, hadde slayne Agamemnon,
emperour of the grekes armye, had nat Pallas, the goddesse,
withdrawen his hande ;* in which rage he, all inflamed, de-
parted with his people to his owne shippes that lay at rode,
intendinge to haue retourned in to his countray ; but after that
he had taken to hym his harpe, (whereon he had lerned to
playe of Chiron the Centaure, which also had taught (,,
hym feates of armes, with phisicke, and surgery ®),

* Acts xiii. 22: ‘He raised up unto them David to be their king ; to whom
also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse a man after
mine own heart which shall fulfil all my will.’

> y Sam, xvi. 23: ‘And it came to pass when the evil spirit from God was
upon Saul that David took an harp and played with his hand: so Saul was
refreshed and was well and the evil spirit departs from him,’

9 Πηλείωνι δ᾽ ἄχος γένετ᾽ " ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ

Στήθεσσιν λασίοισι διάνδιχα μερμήριξεν,

Ἢ ὅγε φάσγανον ὀξὺ ἐρυσσάμενος παρὰ μηροῦ,

Τοὺς μὲν ἀναστήσειεν, ὃ δ᾽ ᾿Ατρείδην ἐναρίξοι,

"HE χόλον παύσειεν, ἐρητύσειέ τε θυμόν.

Ἕως 6 ταῦθ᾽ ὥρμαινε κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμὸν,

“EAketo δ᾽ ἐκ κολεοῖο μέγα ξίφος, ἦλθε δ᾽ ᾿Αθήνη

Οὐρανόθεν " πρὸ γὰρ ἧκε θεὰ λευκώλενος Ἥρη

ἔΑμφω ὁμῶς θυμῷ φιλέουσά τε κηδομένη τε

Στῆ δ᾽ ὄπιθεν, ξανθῆς δὲ κόμης ἕλε Πηλείωνα,

Οἴῳ φαινομένη" τῶν δ᾽ ἄλλων οὔτις dparo.—ZJ/. i. 188-198.
ἐπὶ δ᾽ ἤπια φάρμακα πάσσε

᾿Εσθλὰ, τά σε προτὶ φασὶν ᾿Αχιλλῆος δεδιδάχθαι

Ὅν Χείρων ἐδίδαξε, δικαιότατος Κενταύρων. .---- 71, xi. 829.

40 THE GOVERNOUR.

and, -playeng theron, had songen the gestes and actis martial
of the auncient princis of Grece, as Hercules, Perseus,
Perithous, Theseus, and his cosin Jason, and of diuers other
of semblable value and prowesse, he was there with asswaged
of his furie, and reduced in to his firste astate of reason :* in
suche wyse, that in redoubyng his rage, and that thereby
shulde nat remayne to him any note of reproche, he re-
taynyng his fiers and stourdie countenance, so tempered hym
selfe in the entertaynement and answerynge the messagers
that came to him from the residue of the Grekes, that they,
reputing all that his fiers demeanure to he, (as it were), a
diuine maiestie, neuer embrayded hym with any inordinate
Alexan. Wtathe or furie.” And ° therfore the great kynge
der’s Alexander, whan he had vainquisshed Ilion, where
musyk some tyme was set the moste noble citie of Troy,
beinge demaunded of one if he wold se the harpe of Paris
Alexander, who rauisshed Helene, he therat gentilly smilyng,
answered that it was nat the thyng that he moche desired, but
that he had rather se the harpe of Achilles, wherto he sange,
nat the illecebrous dilectations of Venus, but the valiaunt
actes and noble affaires of excellent princis.4

But in this commendation of musike I wold nat be
thought to allure noble men to haue so moche delectation
therin, that, in playinge and singynge only, they shulde put

. Tov δ᾽ εὗρον φρένα τερπόμενον φόρμιγγι Avyeln,
Καλῇ, δαιδαλέῃ, ἐπὶ δ᾽ ἀργύρεος ζυγὸς ἦεν"
Thy ἄρετ᾽ ἐξ ἐνάρων, πτόλιν ᾽Ηετίωνος ὀλέσσας "
Τῇ ὅγε θυμὸν ἕτερπεν, ἄειδε δ᾽ ἄρα κλέα ἀνδρῶν.--- 7. ix. 186.

b Ei δέ τοι ᾽Ατρείδης μὲν ἀπήχθετο κηρόθι μᾶλλον
Airis, καὶ τοῦ δῶρα " σὺ δ᾽ ἄλλους περ Παναχαιοὺς
Τειρομένους ἐλέαιρε κατὰ στρατὸν, οἵ σε θεὸν ὧς
τίσους᾽ " ἦ γάρ κέ σφι μάλα μέγα κῦδος ἄροιο. ----.7]. ix. 300.

* In Mr. Eliot’s edition Chapter VII. begins here.

4 Ἔν δὲ τῷ περιιέναι καὶ θεᾶσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, ἐρομένου τινὸς αὐτὸν εἰ βού-
λεται τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρου λύραν ἰδεῖν, ἐλάχιστα φροντίζειν ἐκείνης ἔφη, τὴν δ᾽ ᾿Αχιλλέως
(nreiv, ἣ τὰ κλέα καὶ τὰς πράξεις ὕμνει τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν éxeivos.—Plutarch, A/ex-
ander, 15. This reply is also mentioned by .ἘΠ6η, Var. Hist. ix. 30, and
Stobeeus (Serm. vii.). ; ς

THE GOVERNOUR. 41

their holle studie and felicitie: as dyd the emperour Nero,
whiche all a longe somers day wolde sit in the
Theatre, (an open place where al the people of Rome
behelde solemne actis and playes), and, in the presence of all
_the noble men and senatours, wolde playe on his harpe and
synge without cessynge: And if any man hapned, by longe
sittynge, to slepe, or, by any other countenance, to shewe him
selfe to be weary, he was sodaynly bobbed on the face by the
seruantes of Nero, for that purpose attendyng : or if any per-
sone were perceiued to be absent, or were sene to laughe at
the folye of the emperour, he was forthe with accused, as it
were, of missprision: wherby the emperour founde occasion
to committe him to prison or to put hym to tortures.* Ayysyze
O what misery was it to be subiecte to suche a min- ™#seradle.
strell, in whose musike was no melodye, but anguisshe and
. dolour ?

It were therfore better that no musike were taughte
to a noble man, than, by the exacte knowlege therof, he
shuld haue therin inordinate delite, and by that be illected
to wantonnesse, abandonyng grauitie, and the necessary cure
and office, in the publike weale, to him committed. Kynge

Theatre.

* *Mox, flagitante vulgo ‘‘ut omnia studia sua publicaret,” (hzec enim verba
dixere) ingreditur theatrum, cunctis citharze legibus obtemperans: ne fessus resi-
deret, ne sudorem, nisi ea, quam indutui gerebat veste detergeret: ut nulla oris
aut narium excrementa viserentur. Postremo flexus genu, et coetum illum manu
veneratus, sententias judicum opperiebatur ficto pavore. Et plebs quidem urbis,
histrionum quoque gestus juvare solita, personabat certis modis plausoque com-
posito. Crederes letari: ac fortasse letabantur, per incuriam publici flagitii. Sed
qui remotis e municipiis, severamque adhuc et antiqui moris retinentes Italiam,
quique per longas provincias, lascivize inexperti, officio legationum aut privata
utilitate, advenerant, neque aspectum illum tolerare, neque labori inhonesto suf-
ficere ; cum manibus nesciis fatiscerent, turbarent gnaros ac spe a militibus ver-
berarentur, qui per cuneos stabant, ne quod temporis momentum impari clamore
aut silentio segni preteriret. Constitit plerosque Equitum dum per augustias
aditus et ingruentem multitudinem enituntur, obtritos, et alios, dum diem noc-
temque sedilibus continuant, morbo exitiabili correptos: quippe gravior inerat
metus, si spectaculo defuissent, multis palam, et pluribus occultis, ut nomina ac
vultus, alacritatem, tristitiamque cceuntium scrutarentur. Unde tenuioribus statim
irrogata supplicia, adversus illustres dissimulatum ad presens et mox redditum
odium.—Tac. Azz. lib. xvi. 4.

42 THE GOVERNOUR.

Philip, whan he harde that his sonne Alexander dyd singe

swetely and properly, he rebuked him gentilly, saynge,
Pays But, Alexander, be ye nat ashamed that ye can singe
wordes to so well and connyngly ?* whereby he mente that
Alexander, 3

the open profession of that crafte was but of a
base estimation. And that it suffised a noble man, hauynge
therin knowlege, either to use it secretely, for the refreshynge
of his witte, whan he hath tyme of solace: orels, only hear-
ynge the contention of noble musiciens, to gyue iugement in
the excellencie of their counnynges. These be the causes
where unto hauinge regarde, musike is nat onely tollerable but
also commendable. For, as Aristotle saith, Musike in the
olde time was nombred amonge sciences, for as moche as
Musike Nature seketh nat onely howe to be in busines well
profitable. occupied, but also howe in quietnes to be commend-
ably disposed.”

And if the childe be of a perfecte inclination and towardnes
to vertue, and very aptly disposed to this science, and ripely
dothe understande the reason and concordance of tunes, the
tutor’s office shall be to persuade hym to haue principally in
remembrance his astate, whiche maketh hym exempt from the
libertie of usinge this science in euery tyme and place: that is
to say, that it onely serueth for recreation after tedious or labo-
rious affaires, and to shewe him that a gentilman, plainge or
singing in a commune audience, appaireth his estimation: the
people forgettinge reuerence, when they beholde him in the
similitude of a common seruant or minstrell. Yet, natwith-
standing, he shall commende the perfecte understandinge of

* Ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν ἐπιτερπῶς ἔν τινι πότῳ ψήλαντα καὶ τεχνικῶς
εἶπεν, “ Οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ καλῶς οὕτω ψάλλων ;’ ᾿Αρκεῖ γὰρ, ἂν βασιλεὺς ἀκροᾶσθαι ψαλ-
λόντων σχολάζ(ῃ, καὶ πολὺ νέμει ταῖς Μούσαις ἑτέρων ἀγωνιζομένων τὰ τοιαῦτα θεατὴς
yyouevos.—Plut. Pericles, τ. Quintus Curtius also mentions this rebuke, and
adds that thenceforth ‘ velut artem sue majestati indecoram, negligentius tractare
coepit.’—Lib. i. cap. 3, § 23.

» Pol, lib. viii. cap. 2: (3) τὴν δὲ μουσικὴν ἤδη διαπορήσειεν ἄν τις" νῦν μὲν γὰρ
ὡς ἡδονῆς χάριν οἱ πλεῖστοι μετέχουσιν αὐτῆς " οἱ δ᾽ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔταξαν ἐν παιδείᾳ, διὰ

τὸ τὴν φύσιν αὐτὴν ζητεῖν, ὅπερ πολλάκις εἴρηται, μὴ μόνον ἀσχολεῖν ὀρθῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ
σχολάζειν δύνασθαι καλῶς.

THE GOVERNOUR. 43

musike, declaringe howe necessary it is for the better attayn-
ynge the knowlege of a publike weale: whiche, as I before
haue saide, is made of an ordre of astates and degrees, and,
by reason therof, conteineth in it a perfect harmony: whiche
he shall afterwarde more perfectly understande, whan he shall
happen to rede the bokes of Plato, and Aristotle, of publike
weales: wherin be written diuers examples of musike and
geometrye. In this fourme may a wise and circumspecte
tutor adapte the pleasant science of musike to a necessary and
laudable purpose.

΄

CHAPTER VIII.

That it is commendable in a gentilman to paint and kerue exactly, uf
nature therto doth induce hym.

IF the childe be of nature inclined, (as many haue ben), to
paint with a penne, or to fourme images in stone or tree: he
shulde nat be therfrom withdrawen, or nature be rebuked,
whiche is to hym beniuolent : but puttyng one to hym, whiche
is in that crafte, wherin he deliteth, moste excellent, in vacant
tymes from other more serious lernynge, he shulde be, in the
moste pure wise, enstructed in painting or keruinge.

And ποῦνε, perchance, some enuious reder wyll hereof ap-
prehende occasion to scorne me, sayenge that I haue well
hyed me, to make of a noble man a mason or peynter.
And yet, if either ambition or voluptuouse idelnes wolde
haue suffered that reder to haue sene histories, he shuld haue
founden excellent princis, as well in payntyng as in keruynge,
equall to noble artificers: suche were Claudius,* Titus,” the

» ‘The undertakings of Claudius were not unworthy of the colossal age of
material creations ; yet they were not the mere fantastic conceptions of turgid
pride and unlimited power.’—Merivale, Hist. of Rome, vol. v. p. 504 ; Suetonius
gives a long list of public works executed by direction of Claudius,

» «Besides skill in music and versification, it is specially mentioned that Titus

44 | THE GOVERNOUR.

sonne of Vaspasian, Hadriane,* both Antonines,” and diuers
other emperours and noble princes: whose warkes of longe
tyme remayned in Rome and other cities, in suche places
where all men mought beholde them: as monuments of their
excellent wittes and vertuous occupation in eschewynge of
idelnes.

And nat without a necessary cause princis were in their
childhode so instructed: for it serued them afterwarde for
deuysynge of engynes for the warre: or for making them
better that be all redy deuysed. For, as Vitruuius (which
writeth of buyldynge to the emperour Augustus) sayth, All
turmentes of warre, whiche we cal ordinance, were first inuented
by kinges or gouernours of hostes, or if they were deuised by
other, they were by them made moche better.© Also, by the
feate of portraiture or payntyng, a capitaine may discriue the
countray of his aduersary, wherby he shall eschue the daun-
gerous passages with his hoste or nauie: also perceyue the

was a rapid short-hand writer, and had, moreover, a knack of imitating the writing
of others, so that he used to say of himself in jest that he might have made an expert
forger.’—-Merivale, Hist. of Rome, vol. vii. p. 46, note ; Sueton, 7itus, 3.

* ‘Flic Greecis literis impensius eruditus ἃ plerisque Greeculus appellatus est.
Atheniensium studia moresque hausit, potitus non sermone tantum, sed et ceteris
disciplinis, canendi, psallendi, medendique scientia, musicus, geometra, pictor,
fictorque ex ere vel marmore proximé Polycletos et Euphranoras.’—-Victor,
Lipitome, cap. xiv.

> Capitolinus says of Antoninus Pius, that he was ‘diligens agri cultor.’
And of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ‘operam preterea pingendo sub magistro
Diogneto dedit. Amavit pugilatum luctamina, et cursum, et aucupatus, et pila
lusit adprimé et venatus est.’-—Cap. 4.

° This proposition is nowhere stated totidem verdis by the writer referred to, but
it is probable that the passage Sir Thomas Elyot had in his mind is the following :
‘Omnis autem est machinatio rerum natura procreata ac preeceptrice et magistra
mundi versatione instituta. Namque animadvertamus primum et aspiciamus
continentem solis, lunge, quinque etiam stellarum naturam, quz ni machinata ver-
sarentur, non habuissemus interdum lucem nec fructuum maturitates, Cum- ergo
majores heec ita esse animadvertissent, ὃ rerum natura sumpserunt exempla et ea
imitantes inducti rebus divinis commodas vite perfecerunt explicationes itaque
comparaverunt, ut essent expeditiora, alia machinis et earum versationibus, non-
nulla organis, et ita que animadverterunt ad usum utilia esse studiis, artibus in-
stitutis, gradatim augenda doctrinis curaverunt.’—Lib. x. cap. ‘I. .

THE GOVERNOUR. 45

placis of aduauntage, the forme of embataylynge of his
ennemies: the situation of his campe, for his mooste suertie :
the strength or weakenes of the towne or fortresse whiche he
intendeth to assaulte. And that whiche is moost specially to be
considered, in visiting his owne dominions, he shal sette them
out in figure, in suche wise that at his eie shal appere tohym
where he shall employ his study and treasure, as well for the
saulfgarde of his countray, as for the commodite and honour
therof, hauyng at al tymes in his sight the suertie and
feblenes, aduauncement and hyndrance, of the same. And
what pleasure and also utilite is it to a man whiche intendeth
to edifie, hymselfe to expresse the figure of the warke that he
purposeth, accordyng as he hath conceyued it in his owne
fantasie? wherin, by often amendyng and correctyng, he
finally, shall so perfecte the warke unto his purpose, that there
shall neither ensue any repentance, nor in the employment of
his money he shall be by other deceiued. More ouer the
feate of portraiture shall be an allectiue- to euery other studie -
or exercise. For the witte therto disposed shall alway
couaite congruent mater, wherin it may be occupied. And
whan he happeneth to rede or here any fable or historie,
forthwith he apprehendeth it more desirously, and retaineth
it better, than any other that lacketh the sayd feate: by
reason that he hath founde mater apte to his fantasie. Finally,
euery thinge that portraiture may comprehende will be to him
delectable to rede or here. And where the liuely spirite, and

_ that whiche is called the grace of the thyng, is perfectly ex-

pressed, that thinge more persuadeth and stereth the be-
holder, and soner istructeth hym, than the declaration in
writynge or speakynge doth the reder or hearer. Experience
we haue therof in lernynge of geometry, astronomie, and cos-
mogrophie, called in englisshe the discription of the worlde.
In which studies I dare affrme a man shal more profite, in
one wike, by figures and chartis, well and perfectly made, than
he shall by the only reding or heryng the rules of that science
by the space of halfe a yere at the lest ; wherfore the late

46 THE GOVERNOUR.

writers deserue no small commendation whiche added to the
autors of those sciences apt and propre figures.

And he that is perfectly instructed in portrayture, and |

hapneth to rede any noble and excellent historie, wherby his
courage is inflamed to the imitation of vertue, he forth with
taketh his penne or pensill, and with a graue and substanciall
studie, gatherynge to him all the partes of imagination, ende-
uoureth him selfe to expresse liuely, and (as I mought say)
actually, in portrayture, nat only the faict or affaire, but also
the sondry affections of euery personage in the historie recited,
whiche mought in any wise appiere or be perceiued in their
Lisippus visage, countenance or gesture: with like diligence

‘as Lysippus* made in metall kynge Alexander,
fightynge and struggling with a terrible lyon of incomparable
magnitude and fiersenesse, whom, after longe and difficulte
bataile, with wonderfull strength and clene might, at the last
he ouerthrewe and vainquisshed Ὁ wherin he so expressed the
similitude of Alexander and of his lordes standyng about
him that they all semed to lyue. Amonge whom the prowes
of Alexander appiered, excelling all other: the residue of his
lordes after the value and estimation of their courage, euery
man set out in suche forwardnes, as they than semed more

Edicto vetuit, ne quis se preter Apellem
Pingeret, aut alius Lysippo duceret zera
Fortis Alexandri vultum simulantia.—Hor. £4. ii. 1. 239.

> This story is related at length by Quintus Curtius: ‘ Barbarze opulentiz in
illis locis haud ulla sunt majora indicia, quam magnis nemoribus saltibusque no-
bilium ferarum gregesclausi. Spatiosas ad hoc eligunt sylvas, crebris perennium
aquarum fontibus amoenas: muris nemora cinguntur, turresque habent venantium
receptacula. Quatuor continuis zetatibus intactum saltum fuisse constabat : quem
Alexander cum toto exercitu ingressus ‘‘agitari undique feras” jussit. Inter quas
cum leo magnitudinis rarze ipsum regem invasurus incurreret ; forte Lysimachus,
qui postea regnavit, proximus Alexandro, venabulum objicere ferze cceperat.
Quo rex repulso et * abire” jusso, adjecit ‘‘tam ἃ semet uno quam ἃ Lysimacho
leonem interfici posse.’”? Lysimachus enim quondam cum venaretur in Syria,
occiderat eximize magnitudinis feram solus: sed levo humero usque ad ossa‘lace-
ratus ad ultimum periculi pervenerat. Id ipsum exprobrans ei rex fortius, quam
locutus est, fecit: nam feram non excepit modo, sed etiam uno vulnere occidit.’—
Lib. viii. cap. 1, § 11-16,

-
““

THE GOVERNOUR. 47

prompt to the helpyng of their maister, that is to say, one
lasse a ferde than an other.* Phidias the Atheniense, whom
all writers do commende, made of yuory the simulachre or
image of Jupiter, honoured by the gentiles on the high hille
of Olympus: whiche was done so excellently that Pandenus, a

-counnyng painter, therat admaruailinge, required the craftis

man to shewe him where he had the example or paterne of so
noble a warke.” Than Phidias answered that he had taken
it out of thre verses of Homere the poet: the sentence wher-
of ensueth, as well as my poure witte can expresse it in
englisshe :

‘Than Jupiter the father of them all

Therto assented with his browes blake,

Shaking his here, and therwith did let fall
A countenance that made al heuen to quake,’

where it is to be noted, that? immediately before Thetis the

® This appears to be an embellishment by the author, of which we have already
seen a somewhat similar instance at p. 34 ante. Plutarch, who evidently refers to
the same incident as Curtius, merely says: Τοῦτο τὸ κυνήγιον Kparepos εἰς Δελφοὺς
ἀνέθηκεν εἰκόνας χαλκᾶς ποιησάμενος τοῦ λέοντος καὶ τῶν κυνῶν καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως τῷ
λέοντι συνεστῶτος καὶ αὑτοῦ προσβοηθοῦντος, ὧν τὰ μὲν Λύσιππος ἔπλασε, τὰ δὲ
Aewxdpns.— Alexander, 40.

» This is narrated by Strabo: ἀπομνημονεύουσι δὲ τοῦ Φειδίου διότι πρὸς τὸν
Πάνδεινον εἶπε πυνθανόμενον, πρὸς τί παράδειγμα μέλλοι ποιήσειν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Διός,
ὅτι πρὸς τὴν Ὁμήρου, δι’ ἐπῶν ἐκτεθεῖσαν τούτων Ἦ καὶ... Ὄλυμπον, εἰρῆσθαι γὰρ
μάλα δοκεῖ καλῶς, ἔκ τε τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τῶν ὀφρύων, ὅτι προκαλεῖται τὴν διάνοιαν 6
ποιητὴς ἀναζωγραφεῖν μέγαν τινὰ τύπον καὶ μεγάλην δύναμιν ἀξίαν τοῦ Δίος,
καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἥρας, ἅμα φυλάττων τὸ ep’ ἑκατέρῳ πρέπον" ἔφη μὲν γάρ,
σείσατο δ᾽ εἰνὶ θρόνῳ, ἐλέλιξε δὲ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον" τὸ δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐκείνης συμβὰν ὅλῃ
κινηθείσῃ, τοῦτ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῦ Διὸς ἀπαντῆσαι ταῖς ὀφρύσι μόνον νεύσαντος, συμπαθούσης
δέ τι καὶ τῆς Kéuns.—Lib. viii. cap. 3, 5. 30.

‘ 7H, καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπ᾽ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων
᾿Αμβρόσιαι δ᾽ ἄρα χαῖται ἐπεῤῥώσαντο ἄνακτος,
Κρατὸς ἀπ᾽ ἀθανάτοιο" μέγαν δ᾽ ἐλέλιξεν ἤολυμπον..--- 7], i, 528.

ἃ In the original the words after ‘that’ are ‘Homere immediatly before had
rehersed the consultation had amonge the goddis for the appaising of the two noble
princis Achilles and Agamemnon ;’ but the correction having been made by the
author himself and inserted in the errata appended to the original edition, it has
been thought advisable, inasmuch as the present edition does not profess to be a
fac-simile, to print the passage in accordance with the author’s own revision,

ὌΝ, Ὁ

48". THE GOVERNOUR.

mother of Achilles desired Jupiter importunately to inclyne
his fauour to the parte of the Troyanes. .

Nowe (as I haue before sayde) I intende nat, by these
examples, to make of a prince or noble mannes sonne, a com-
mune painter or keruer, whiche shall present him selfe openly
stained or embrued with sondry colours, or poudered with the
duste of stones that he cutteth, or perfumed with tedious*
sauours of the metalles by him yoten.»

But verily myne intente and meaninge is only, that a noble
childe, by his owne naturall disposition, and nat by coertion,
may be induced to receiue perfect instruction in these sciences.°
But all though, for purposis before expressed, they shall be
necessary, yet shall they nat be by him exercised, but as a
secrete pastime, or recreation of the wittes, late occupied in
serious studies, like as dyd the noble princis before named.
ΑἹ though they, ones beinge attayned, be neuer moche exer-
cised, after that the tyme cometh concerning businesse of
greatter importaunce. Ne the lesse the exquisite knowlege
and understanding that he hath in those sciences, hath im-
pressed in his eares and eies an exacte and perfecte iugemert,
as well in desernyng the excellencie of them, whiche either in
musike, or in statuary, or paynters crafte, professeth any
counnynge, as also adaptinge their saide knowlege to the
adminiculation* of other serious studies and businesse, as I
haue before rehersed : whiche, I doubt nat, shall be well ap-
proued by them that either haue redde and undesstande olde
autors, or aduisedly wyll examine my considerations.

The swete® writer, Lactantius, saythe in his first

* See the Glossary. » See the Glossary.

9 In the edition of 1546 and all the subsequent editions the remainder of this
chapter is omitted. Of all the copies of this work in the British Museum Library
there is not one containing the whole of this chapter, which therefore is now, pro-
bably for the first time since A.D. 1531, given to the public in an unmutilated
shape.

ἃ See the Glossary.

¢ ‘The style of Lactantius, formed upon the model of the great orator of Rome,
has gained for him the appellation of the Christian Cicero, and not undeservedly.
No reasonable critic indeed would now assert, with Picus of Mirandula, that the

παν ΨυὐὐσπυΥι i i, νυ υ

"y=
.

—— a! S

THE GOVERNOUR. 49

booke* to the emperour Constantine agayne the gentiles:

‘Of conninge commeth vertue, and of vertue perfect zoctantins

felicite is onely ingendred. ἢ lib. itt.
And for that cause the gentiles supposed those princis,

whiche in vertue and honour surmounted other men, to be

goddes. And the Romanes in lyke wise dyd consecrate their
emperours,° which excelled in vertuous example, in preseru-
yng or augmentinge the publike weale, and ampliatinge of the
empire, calling them Dzwz, whiche worde representeth a sig-
nification of diuinitie, they thinkynge that it was excedynge
mannes nature to be bothe in fortune and goodnes of suche
perfection.

imitator has not only equalled, but even surpassed the beauties of his original.
But it is impossible not to be charmed with the purity of diction, the easy grace,
the calm dignity, and the sonorous flow of his periods, when compared with the
harsh phraseology and barbarous extravagance of his African contemporaries.
Some critics absurdly enough, perhaps, have imagined that Zactantius is a mere
epithet, indicating the milk-like softness and sweetness which characterise the
style of this author.’—Smith’s Dict. of Biography, sub voc. —

* The reference is erroneous; the passage quoted occurs in the 12th chapter
of the third book.

b ¢ Ex scientia enim virtus, ex virtute summum bonum nascitur,’

¢ Compare the remarks of Lactantius on this subject : ‘Quibus ex rebus, cum
constet illos homines fuisse, non est obscurum, qua ratione dii cceperint nominari.
Si enim nulli reges ante Saturnum vel Uranum fuerunt propter hominum raritatem,
qui agrestem vitam sine ullo rectore vivebant : non est dubium quin illis tempori-
bus homines regem ipsum totamque gentem summis laudibus ac novis honoribus
jactare coeperint, ut etiam deos appellarent, sive ob miraculum virtutis (hoc veré
putabant rudes adhuc et simplices), sive (ut fieri solet) in adulationem presentis
potentiae, sive ob beneficia quibus erant ad humanitatem compositi. Deinde ipsi
reges, cum cari fuissent iis, quorum vitam composuerant, magnum sui desiderium
mortui reliquerunt. Itaque homines eorum simulacra finxerunt, ut haberent ali-
quod ex imaginum contemplatione solatium ; progressique longils per amorem
meriti, memoriam defunctorum colere coeperunt : ut et gratiam referre bene meritis
viderentur, et successores eorum allicerent ad bene imperandi cupiditatem ... .
Hac scilicet ratione Romani Czesares suos consecraverunt, et Mauri reges suos.
Sic paulatim religiones esse cceperunt, dum illi primi, qui eos noverant, eo ritu suos
liberos ac nepotes, deinde omnes posteros imbuerunt. Et hi tamen sumrai reges
ob celebritatem nominis in provinciis omnibus colebantur.’—Lib. i. cap. 13.

50 THE GOVERNOUR.

CHAPTER ΙΧ.

What exacte diligence shulde be in chosinge maisters.

AFTER that the childe hathe ben pleasantly trained, and in-
duced to knowe the partes of speche, and can seperate one of
them from an other, in his owne langage, it shall than be
time that his tutor or gouernour do make diligent serche for
suche a maister as is exellently lerned both in greke

lating, and therwithall is of sobre’ and vertuous disposition,
specially chast of liuyng, and of moche affabilite and patience :
leste by any uncleané example the tender mynde of the
childe may be infected, harde afterwarde to be recouered. For
the natures of children be nat so moche or sone aduaunced by
thinges well done or spoken, as they be hindred and corrupted
by that whiche in actis or wordes is wantonly expressed.
Also by a cruell and irous” maister the wittes of children be
dulled; and that thinge for the whiche children be often
tymes beaten is to them euer after fastidious: wherof we nede
no better autor for witnes than daily experience.° Wherfore
the moste necessary thinges to be obserued by a master in his
disciples or scholers (as Licon* the noble grammarien saide)

5 This and the three next chapters are entirely omitted in Mr. Eliot’s edition.

> See the Glossary.

¢ Hallam, commenting on this passage, says, ‘ All testimonies concur to this
savage ill-treatment of boys in the schools of this period. The fierceness of the
Tudor government, the religious intolerance, the polemical brutality, the rigorous
justice, when justice it was of our laws, seem to have engendered a hardness of
character, which displayed itself in severity of discipline, when it did not even
reach the point of arbitrary or malignant cruelty.’ And he gives as the most
striking example of this ‘severity of discipline’ the behaviour of Lady Jane Grey’s
parents towards one who was ‘ the slave of their temper in life, the victim of their
ambition in death.’—Literature of Europe, vol. i. Ὁ. 401.

Δ Lycon of Troas, a distinguished Peripatetic philosopher, was the son of
Astyanax, and the disciple-of Straton, whom he succeeded as the head of the
Peripatetic school, B.c. 272; and he held that post for more than forty-four years.
He was celebrated for his eloquence and for his skill in educating boys. We are
indebted to Diogenes Laertius for what we know of him,

THE GOVERNOUR. 51

is shamfastnes and praise." By shamfastnes, as it were with
a bridell, they ruléas well theyr dedes as their appetites. And
desire of prayse addeth to a sharpe spurre to their disposition
towarde lernyng and vertue. Accordyng there unto Quinti-
lian, instructyng an oratour, desireth suche a childe to be
giuen unto hym, whom commendation feruently stereth?, glorie
prouoketh, and beinge vainquisshed wepeth. That childe
(saithe he) is to be fedde with ambition, hym a litle chiding
sore biteth, in hym no parte of slouthe is to be ἔξαγε. And
if nature disposeth nat_the childes witte to_receiue lernynge,
but rather other wise, it is to be applied with more diligence,

and also policie, as chesing some boke, wherof the arguinent |

or matter approcheth moste nighe to the childes inclination or
fanitasie, Sothat if bé nat extremely vicious, and therwith by
litle and litle, as it were with a pleasant sauce, prouoke him to
haue good appetite to studie. And surely that childe, what so
euer he be, is well blessed and fortunate, that findeth a good
instructour or maister: whiche was considered by noble kynge
Philip, father to the great king Alexander, who immediately

_ after that his sonne was borne wrote a letter to Aristotle, the

prince of philosophers, the tenour wherof ensueth.*
Aristotle, we grete you well. Lettinge you weete that
we haue a sonne borne, for the whiche we gyue due σον ωρ;
; ὁ epistel
thankes unto god, nat for that he is borne onely, but of ding

also for as mcche as hit happeneth hym to be borne, foe ng
you lyuinge. Trusting that it shall happen that he,

᾿ς 4 Ἔφασκε γὰρ δεῖν παραζεῦχθαι τοῖς παισὶ τὴν aide καὶ φιλοτιμίαν, ὡς Tots ἵπποις
μύωπα καὶ xadwvdy.—Diog. Laert. Λύκων,

> 7,2. stirreth.

¢ ‘Mihi ille detur puer, quem laus excitet, quem gloria juvet, qui victus
fleat. Hic erit alendus ambitu, hunc mordebit objurgatio, hunc honor excitabit,
in hoc desidiam nunquam verebor.’—Zustit, Orat. lib. i. cap. 3, § 7.

4 ¢Philippus Aristoteli salutem dicit. Certiorem te facio, filium mihi genitum
esse. Nec perinde Diis gratiam habeo quod omnino natus est, quam quod te
florente nasci illum contigit : 4 quo educatum institutumque neque nobis indignum
spero evasurum, neque successioni tantarum rerumimparem. Satius enim existimo
carere liberis, quam opprobria majorum suorum tollentem in pcenam genuisse.’—
Quintus Curtius, lib. i. cap. 2,

ἣν

ἘΣ-

ἶ

Ἴ
Σ

3

᾿

52 THE GOVERNOUR.

by you taught and instructed, shall be herafter -worthye to be
named our sonne, and to enioy the honour and substance that
we nowe haue prouided. Thus fare ye well.

The same Alexander was wont to say openly, that he
ought to gyue as great thankes to Aristotle his mayster as to
kynge Philip his father, for of hym he toke the occasion to
lyue, of the other he receiued the reason and waye to lyue
well. And what maner a prince Alexander was made by
the doctrine of Aristotle, hit shall appere in diuers places of
this boke: where his example to princes shall be declared.
The incomparable benefite of maisters haue ben well remem-
bred of dyuers princes. In so moche as Marcus Antoninus,
whiche amonge the emperours was commended for his vertue
and sapience, hadde his mayster Proculus (who taught hym
grammer) so moche in fauour, that he aduanced hym to be
proconsul : ὃ whiche was one of the highest dignites amonge the
Romanes. -

Alexander the emperour caused his maister Julius Fronto
to be consul: whiche was the highest office, and in astate
nexte the emperour: and also optayned of the senate that the
statue or image of Fronto was sette up amonge the noble

princes.®

* ‘Ipse quidem pradicavit non minus se debere Aristoteli, quam Philippo :
hujus enim munus fuisse, quod viveret ; illius, quod honesté viveret.’— Quintus
Curtius, lib. i. cap. 3, § 10.

> “Usus preeterea grammaticis Greco Alexandro Cotiaensi, Latinis Trosio
Apro et Pollione, et Eutychio Proculo Siccensi.’—Capitol. MZ. Anton. Phil. 2.

¢ ¢Proculum vero usque ad proconsulatum provexit, oneribus in se receptis.’—
Ibid.

4 This is a mistake arising from the author having confounded Julius Frontinus,
who is mentioned by Lampridius as instructing Alexander Severus in rhetoric with
Cornelius Fronto, who is mentioned by Capitolinus as occupying a similar position
as regards oratory towards Marcus Aurelius. Dr. Merivale says, ‘ Cornelius
Fronto, another rhetorician, had attained the consulship as far back as the reign
of Hadrian, but declined office in the provinces. He continued in his old age to
attend and advise his imperial pupil, who treated him with the highest considera-
tion.’—AHist. of Rome, vol. vii. p. 576.

ὁ «Sed multum ex his Frontoni detulit, cui et statuam in senatu petiit.’—
Capitol. 27. Anton. Phil. 2.

THE GOVERNOUR. Ἂ 53

What caused Traiane to be so good a prince, in so moche
that of late dayes whan an emperour receyued his»crowne at
Rome, the people with a commune crye desired of god that
he mought be as good as was Traiane,* but that he hapned
to haue Plutarche, the noble philosopher, to be his instructour?»
I agre me that some be good of natural inclination to good-
nes : but where good instruction and example is there to added,
the naturall goodnes must there with nedes be amended and
be more excellent.

CHAPTER X.

What ordre shulde be in lernynge and whiche autours shulde be
Syrst redde.

NOWE lette us retourne to the ordre of lernyng apt for a
gentyll man. Wherein I am of the opinion of Quintilian®

* ‘Hujus tantum memoric delatum est, ut usque ad nostram zetatem non aliter
in senatu principibus acclametur, nisi ‘‘felicior Augusto, melior Trajano.” ’—
Lutrop. lib. viii. cap. 5.

> «The statement that Plutarch was the preceptor of Trajan, and that the em-
peror raised him to the consular rank, rests on the authority of Suidas anda Latin
letter addressed to Trajan. But this short notice in Suidas is a worthless autho-
rity ; and the Latin letter to Trajan, which only exists in the Policraticus of John
of Salisbury (lib. v. cap. 1) is a forgery, though John probably did not forge it.
John’s expression is somewhat singular—‘‘ Extat epistola Plutarchi Trajanum in-
stituentis, que cujusdam politicze constitutionis exprimit sensum. Ea dicitur esse
hujusmodi ;” and then he gives the letter. In the second chapter of this book
John says that this Politica Constitutio is a small treatise inscribed ‘‘ Institutio
Trajani,” and he gives the substance of part of the work. Plutarch, who dedicated
the ᾿Αποφθέγματα to Trajan, says nothing of the emperor having been his pupil.’—
Smith’s Dict. of Biography: Plutarch. Dr. Merivale says, ‘The story that he
was instructed by Plutarch may be rejected as a fiction founded perhaps on the
favour he undoubtedly showed to that philosopher.’—/ist. of Rome, vol. vii.
p. 213, note.

¢ «A Grzeco sermone puerum incipere alo; quia Latinum, qui pluribus in usu
est, vel nobis nolentibus perhibet : simul quia disciplinis quoque Greecis prius in-
stituendus est, unde et nostre fluxerunt. Non tamen hoc adeo superstitiosé velim
fieri, ut diu tantum loquatur Greece, aut discat, sicut plerisque moris est ; hinc
enim accidunt et oris plurima vitia in peregrinum sonum corrupti, et sermonis,

=)

Ve

54 THE GOVERNOUR.

that I wolde haue hym lerne greke and latine autors both at
one time: orels to begyn with greke, for as moche as that it
is hardest to come by: by reason of the diuersite of tonges,
which be fyue in nombre :* and all must be knowen, or elles
es uneth any poet can be well understande. And if a
e fyrst 2 ᾧ
lerning in Childe do begyn therin at seuen yeres of age, he
chyldehode. αν continually lerne greke autours thre yeres, and
in the meane tyme use the latin tonge as a familiar langage:
whiche in a noble mannes sonne may well come to passe,
hauynge none other persons to serue him or kepyng hym
company, but suche as can speake latine elegantly.” And
what doubt is there but so may he as sone speake good latin,
as he maye do pure frenche, whiche nowe is broughte in to as

cui quum Greecze figuree assidua consuetudine hzeserunt, in diversé quoque loquendi
ratione pertinacissimé durant. Non longe itaque Latina subsequi debent, et
cito pariter ire : ita fiet ut quum zequali cura linguam utramque tueri coeperimus,
neutra alteri officiat.’—Zstit. Orat. lib. i. cap. I, ὃ 12.
® Quintilian, recording some instances of wonderful memory, says of Crassus,
quum Asize praeesset guingue Greci sermonis differentias sic tenuit, ut qua quisque
apud eum lingua postulasset, eadem jus 5101 redditum ferret.’—Jnstit. Orat.
lib. xi. cap. 2, ὃ 50. Modern grammarians, however, recognise only four, viz., the
Eolic, Doric, Ionic, and Attic, ‘ because these alone were cultivated and rendered
classic by writers.’—Matthiz Gr. Gr. vol. i. p. 4. Professor Miiller, indeed,
considers the Doric as ‘a mere variety of the AZolic,’ as the Attic is of the Ionic,
and thus reduces the dialects of the Greek language ‘into two great classes which
are distinguished from each other by characteristic marks.’—/ist. of Greek Litera-
ture, vol. i. p. 12.
> Colet, a contemporary of Sir Thomas Elyot, in the preface to his Latin
Grammar, said the best way to learn ‘to speak and write clean Latin is busily to
| learn and read good Latin authors, and note how they wrote and spoke.’ The
} Ciceronianus of Erasmus was written as a protest against the purely classical ele-
gance for which some were at this time contending. ‘The primary aim,’ says
| Hallam, ‘of these (dialogues) was to ridicule the fastidious purity of that sort of
jwriters who would not use a case or a tense for which they could not find authority
‘in the works of Cicero. A whole winter’s night, they thought, was well spent in
icomposing a single sentence ; but even then it was to be revised over and over
jagain. Hence they wrote little except elaborated epistles. One of their rules,
he tells us, was never to speak Latin if they could help it, which must have seemed
extraordinary in an age when it was the common language of scholars from dif-
ferent countries. 72 is certain, indeed, that the practice cannot be favourable to very
pure Latinity.’—Lit. of Europe, vol. i. p. 324, 4th ed.

ζ * aehealpleetioeel

= a

THE GOVERNOUR. 55

many rules and figures, and as longe a grammer as is latine
or greke.* I wyll nat contende who,amonge them that do
write grammers of greke, (whiche nowe all most be innumer-
able,) is the beste :® but that I referre to the discretion of a
wyse mayster. Alway I wolde aduyse hym nat to detayne
the childe to longe in that tedious labours, eyther in the greke
or latyne grammer. Fora gentyll wytte is there with sone
fatigate.

Grammer beinge but an introduction to the understanding
of autors, if it be made to longe or exquisite to the lerner, hit
in a maner mortifieth his corage: And by that time he
cometh to the most swete and pleasant redinge of olde autours,
the sparkes of feruent desire of lernynge is extincte with the
burdone of grammer, lyke as a lyttel fyre is sone quenched with
a great heape of small stickes: so that it can neuer come
to the principall logges where it shuld longe bourne in a great

pleasaunt fire.
Nowe to folowe my purpose: after a fewe and quicke

* ‘France was not destitute of a few obscure treatises at this time (1520-50),
enough to lay the foundations of her critical literature. The complex rules of
French metre were to be laid down, and the language was irregular in pronuncia-
tion, accent, and orthography. ‘These meaner, but necessary, elements of correct-
ness occupied three or four writers, of whom Goujet has made brief mention ;
Sylvius or Du Bois, who seems to have been the earliest writer on grammar ;
Stephen Dolet—better known by his unfortunate fate than by his essay on French
punctuation ; and though Goujet does not name him, we may add an Englishman,
Palsgrave, who published a French Grammar in English as early as 1530.’—Ziz¢.
of Europe, vol. i. p. 449.

> «The commentaries of Budzeus stand not. only far above anything else in
Greek literature before the middle of the sixteenth century, but are alone in their
class. What comes next, but at a vast interval, is the Greek Grammar of Clenar-
dus, printed at Louvain in 1530. It was, however, much beyond Budeeus in
extent of circulation, and probably for this reason in general utility. . This grammar
was continually reprinted with successive improvements, and defective as especially
in its original state it must have been, was far more perspicuous than that of Gaza,
though not perhaps more judicious in principle. It was for a long time commonly
used in France; and is, in fact, the principal basis of those lately or still in use
among us; such as the Eton Greek Grammar. The proof of this is, that they
follow Clenardus in most of his innovations, and too frequently for mere accident
in the choice of instances.’—Lzt, of Zurope, vol. i. p. 330.

56 THE GOVERNOUR.

rules of grammer, immediately, or interlasynge hit therwith,
Esopes WoOlde be redde to the childe Esopes " fables in greke :
fables. in whiche argument children moche do delite.» And
surely it is a moche pleasant lesson and also profitable, as
well for that it is elegant and brefe, (and nat withstanding
it hath moche varietie in wordes, and therwith moche helpeth
to the understandinge of greke) as also in those fables is
included moche morall and politike wisedome. Wherfore, in
the teachinge of them, the maister diligently must gader to
gyther those fables, whiche may be most accommodate to the
aduauncement of some vertue, wherto he perceiteth the childe
inclined: or to the rebuke of some vice, wherto he findeth his
nature disposed. And therin the master ought to exercise
his witte, as wel to make the childe plainly to understande the
fable, as also declarynge the signification therof compendiously
and to the purpose, fore sene alwaye, that, as well this lesson,
as all other autours whiche the childe shall lerne, either greke

* Although Mr. Watt, in the Bibliotheca Britannica, states, with regard to
/Esop, that ‘there are, perhaps, few other books of which so many editions were
printed prior to 1500,’ it appears on perusing his own catalogue that this statement
must be taken to apply exclusively to foreign editions of the Fables, for the only
English edition published prior to the date above mentioned is that of Caxton’s
Translation, A.D, 1484; it is probable, therefore, that Sir Thomas Elyot’s ac-
quaintance with what passed in that age for the fables of AZsop was through the
medium of a foreign edition. Modern scholars are of opinion that the fables now
extant in prose bearing the name of Afsop are unquestionably spurious. Bentley
wrote a dissertation to prove that the present collection is a mere plagiarism from
Babrius.

» Professor Miiller says, ‘ With regard to the faé/z, it is not improbable that in
other countries, particularly in the north of Europe, it may have arisen from a
child-like playful view of the character and habits of animals, which frequently
suggest a comparison with the nature and incidents of human life. In Greece,
however, it originated in an intentional travestie of human affairs. The αἶνος is,
as its name denotes, an admonition or rather a reproof, veiled, either from fear of
an excess of frankness or from love of fun and jest, beneath the fiction of an occur-
rence happening among beasts. ... . It is always some action, some project,
and commonly some absurd one, of the Samians, or Delphians, or Athenians,
whose nature and consequences Atsop describes in a fable, and thus often exhibits
the posture of affairs in a more lucid, just, and striking manner than could have
been done by elaborate argument.’—//ist, of Greek Literature, vol. i. pp. 191, 192.

THE GOVERNOUR. 57

of latine, verse or prose, be perfectly had without the boke:
wherby he shall nat only attaine plentie of the tonges called
Copie, but also encrease and nourisshe remembrance wonder-
fully.*

The nexte lesson wolde be some quicke and mery The ii
dialoges, elect out of Luciane, whiche be without Zsson to
ribawdry,® or to moche skorning, for either of them οὐ άγέμ.
is exactly to be eschewed, specially for a noble “““”
man, the one anoyeng the soule, the other his estimation
concerning his grauitie.° The comedies of Aristo-
phanes may be in the place of Luciane, and by
reason that they be in metre’ they be the sooner lerned by
harte.© I dare make none other comparison betwene them

Arist.

* Compare Quintilian’s remarks on this subject. ‘Nam et omnis disciplina
memoria constat, frustraque docemur, si quidquid audimus, preeterfluat ; et exem-
plorum, legum, responsorum, dictorum denique factorumque velut quasdam cofias,
quibus abundare, quasque in promptu semper habere debet orator, eadem illa vis
repreesentat.’—Zzstit. Orat. lib. xi, cap. 2, § I.

> Miiller compares Lucian to Voltaire, but says that the former combined a more
sincere, conscientious, and courageous love of the truth for its own sake, and rejects
as productions of Lucian the PAd/opatris, the object of which is to cast discredit on
Christianity, the Zoves, the Zmages, and several other pieces which have been at-
tributed to him.

¢ *Suidas says, with a wonderful vehemence of bigotry, that he was torn to
pieces by dogs, because he raved against the truth and blasphemed the name of
Christ : ‘‘ whence,” he adds, ‘‘he paid an ample penalty in this life, and in the
life to come he will inherit eternal fire with Satan.” This violence of language
and atrocity of statement probably rest on no better foundation than some eccle-
siastical tradition, suggested by the belief that Lucian wrote the Philopatris, and
was a malignant enemy of the faith. But it has long been the opinion of critics
that Lucian is not the author of PAz/opatris ; and there is no reason to believe that
he was more specially opposed to Christianity than he was generally to the forms
of oriental superstition, with which he had been led to class the history of our -
Saviour.’— Hist. of Gr. Lit. vol. iii. p. 220.

4 Miiller is of opinion that the great variety of metres employed in comedy
were also distinguished by different sorts of gesticulation and delivery, and says :
‘ Aristophanes had the skill to convey by his rhythms sometimes the tone of romp-
ing merriment, at others that of vestal dignity.’"— ist. of Gr. Lit. vol. ii. p. 17.

* The high estimation in which the works of Aristophanes have been held for
educational purposes should rather be attributed to the fact that they were ‘ based
on the whole upon the common conversational language of the Athenians—the
Attic dialect as it was current in their colloquial intercourse ; comedy expresses

58 : THE GOVERNOUR.

for offendinge the frendes of them both: but thus moche
dare I say, that it were better that a childe shuld neuer rede
any parte of Luciane than all Luciane.*

I coulde reherce diuers other poetis whiche for mater and
eloquence be very necessary, but I feare me to be to longe from

noble Homere: from whom as from a fountaine pro-
Hlomerus.

be contained, and moste perfectly expressed, nat only the
documentes marciall and discipline of armes, but also inéom-
parable wisedomes, and instructions for politike gouernaunce
of people:* with the worthy commendation and laude of noble

this not only more purely than any other kind of poetry, but even more so than
the old Attic prose.’—/bid. p. 18. ‘All this abuse and slander, and carica-
ture, and criticism, was conveyed in the most exquisite and polished style: it
was recommended by all the refinements of taste and the graces of poetry. It
was because of this exquisite elegance and purity, which distinguished the style of
the Attic comic writing, as well as its energetic power, that Quintilian recom-
mends an orator to study, as the best model next to Homer, the writings of the
old Attic comedy.’—Browne, fist. of Classical Literature, vol. ii. p. 20.

* This remark would appear to be applicable ἃ fortiori to Aristophanes, but
modern scholars deprecate such squeamishness, Thus Dr. Donaldson says, ‘So far
from charging Aristophanes with immorality, we would repeat in the words which
a great and a feodman_of cat onn fay used when speaking of his antitype
Rabelais, that the morality of his works is of the most refined and exalted kind,
however little worthy of praise their manners may be; and, on the whole, we would
fearlessly recommend any student, who is not so imbued with the lisping and dri-
velling mawkishness of the present day as to shudder at the ingredients with which
the necessities of the time have forced the great comedian to dress up his golden
truths, to peruse and re-peruse Aristophanes, if he would know either the full
force of the Attic dialect, or the state of men and manners at Athens in the most
glorious days of her history.’— 7heatre of the Greeks, p. 195. 7th ed.

> So Quintilian says, ‘Igitur, ut Aratus, ab Fove incipiendum putat, ita nos rite
ceepturi ab Homero videmur: hic enim quemadmodum ex oceano dicit ipse
amnium vim fontiumgue cursus initium capere, omnibus eloquentie partibus
exemplum et ortum dedit.’—Jvstit. Orat. lib. x. cap. 1, ὃ 46.

° The writer last quoted says of Homer, ‘in quo nullius non artis aut preecepta,
aut certé non dubia vestigia reperiuntur.’—/0id. lib. xii. cap. 11, §21. Mr. Gladstone,
in considering the political institutions of heroic Greece, embalmed in the poems
of Homer, shows that the βουλὴ or Council, and the ἀγορή or Assembly, ‘not only
with the king made up the whole machinery both of civil and military administra-
tion for that period, but likewise supplied the essential germ, at least, of that form
of constitution, on which the best governments of the continent of Europe have, (two

ceded all eloquence and lernyng.® For in his bokes ©

y
wi

/

THE GOVERNOUR. 59

princis: where with the reders shall be so all inflamed, that
they most feruently shall desire and coueite, by the imitation
of their vertues, to acquire semblable glorie. For the whiche
occasion, Aristotel, moost | sharp st witted and excellent ~,

lerned Philosopher, as “sone as he ad “receiuéd Alexander

from kynge Philip his father, he before any other thynge
taught hym the moost noble warkes of Homere: wherin
Alexander founde suche swetenes and frute, that euer after he
had Homere nat onely with hym in all his iournayes, but

also laide hym under his pillowe whan he went to reste :* and

often tymes wolde purposely wake some houres of the nyght,
to take as it were his passe tyme with that mooste noble
poete.?

For by the redinge of his warke called //ados, where the
assembly of the most noble grekes agayne Troy is recited with
theyr affaires, he gathered courage and strength agayne his
ennemies, wysdome, and eloquence; for consultations, and per-
suations to his people and army. And by the other warke

of them within the last quarter of a century,) been modelled, with such deviations
as experience has recommended, or the change of times has required. I mean
the form of government by a threefold legislative body, having for one of its mem-
hers and for its-head, a single person, in whose hands the executive power of the
state is lodged. This form has been eminently favoured in Christendom, in
Europe, and in England; and it has even survived the passage of the Atlantic,
and the transition, in the United States of America, to institutions which are not
only republican but highly democratic.’—Studies on Homer, vol. iii. p. 94.

5. Kal τὴν μὲν Ἰλιάδα τῆς πολεμικῆς ἀρετῆς ἐφόδιον καὶ νομίζων καὶ ὀνομάζων
ἔλαβε μὲν ᾿Αριστοτέλους διορθώσαντος, ἥν ἐκ τοῦ νάρθηκος καλοῦσιν, εἶχε δὲ ἀεὶ μετὰ
τοῦ ἐγχειριδίου κειμένην ὑπὸ τὸ προσκεφάλαιον, ὡς ᾿Ονησίκρατος ἱστόρηκε.---
Plutarch, Alex. 8.

> Neither Plutarch nor Quintus Curtius mentions this fact ; it would appear,
therefore, to be a gratuitous addition of the author, of which a somewhat similar
instance was noticed, ante p. 47. Curtius, however, who tells the same story as
Plutarch, says, ‘Crebra autem lectione totum fere edidicit, ut nemo neque promp-
tits eo familiaritsque uteretur, neque exactitis de eo judicaret,’ lib. i. cap. 4, ὃ 6.
Lucian, in the Dialogues of the Dead, makes Hannibal say, Kal ταῦτα ἔπραξα βάρ-
Bapos dv Kal ἀπαίδευτος παιδείας τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς καὶ ofre“Ounpoy ὥσπερ οὗτος ῥαψῳ-
δῶν οὕτε ὑπ᾽ ᾿Αριστοτέλει τῷ σοφιστῇ παιδευθεὶς, μόνῃ δε τῇ φύσει ἀγαθῇ χρησάμενος.
Ταῦτα ἐστιν ἅ ἐγὼ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου ἀμείνων φημὶ elvar.— Dial. Mort. xii. 3. (385).

© Curtius says, ‘Ex omnibus autem ejus carminibus maxime probabat versum

CA, ν 73

60 THE GOVERNOUR:

called Odissea, whiche recounteth the sondry aduentures of the
wise Ulisses, he, by the example of Ulisses, apprehended many
noble vertues, and also lerned to eskape the fraude and deceit-
full imaginations of sondry and subtile crafty wittes.* Also there
shall he lerne to enserche and perceiue the maners and con-
ditions of them that be his familiars, siftinge out (as I mought
say) the best from the warst, wherby he may surely committe
his affaires, and truste to euery persone after his vertues. Ther-
fore I nowe conclude that there is no lesson for a yonge gentil
man to be compared with Homere, if he be playnly and sub-
stancially expouned and declared by the mayster.”

Nat withstandinge, for as moche as the saide warkes be
very longe, and do require therfore a great time to be all lerned

quo boni simul imperatoris, robustique militis laudes Agamemnoni tribuuntur, eum-
que preecipuum virtutis incitamentum, et veluti morum suorum magistrum habuit.’
Lib. i. cap 4, § 7.

* Sir Thomas Elyot seems to have formed the same conception. of the charac-
ter of the hero of the Ocyssey that Horace has summarised in the lines :

Rursus, quid virtus et quid sapientia possit
Utile proposuit nobis exemplar Ulyssen.—Z¢. I. ii. 18.

Most modern writers have done full justice to the character of Ulysses: thus,
while Col. Mure, in the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece, has elaborately
analysed the original as portrayed by Homer, and shown what a complete meta-
morphosis it underwent at the hands of the Cyclic poets and Attic dramatists,
Mr. Gladstone has pointed out the dual nature ascribed to Ulysses by Homer, and
says, ‘ The depth of emotion in Ulysses is greater than in any other male character
of the poems except Achilles ; only it is withdrawn from view because so much
under the mastery of his wisdom.’—.Studies on Homer, vol. iii. p. 599.

» A distinguished modern scholar says, ‘ Homer, if read at our public schools,
is, and probably must be, read only, or in the main, for his diction and poetry (as
commonly understood) even by the most advanced ; while to those less forward he
is little more than a mechanical instrument for acquiring the beginning of
real familiarity with the Greek tongue and its inflexions. If, therefore, he is to
be read for his theology, history, ethics, politics, for his skill in the higher and
more delicate parts of the poetic calling, for his never-ending lessons upon manners,
arts, and society ; if we are to study in him the great map of that humanity which
he so wonderfully unfolds to our gaze—he must be read at the wmiversities, and
read with reference to his deeper treasures. He is second to none of the poets of
Greece § the poet of boys; but he is far advanced before them all, even before
AEschylus and Aristophanes, as the poet of men.’—Gladstone, Studies on Homer
vol, i, p. 19. ;

= wa Ἢ ΤΥ

THE GOVERNOUR. 61

and kanned,* some latine autour wolde be therwith myxte,
and specially Virgile; whiche, in his warke called
Eneidos, is most lyke to Homere, and all moste the
same Homere in latine.” Also, by the ioynynge to gether of

Virgilius.

those autours, the one shall be the better understande by the

other.° And verily (as I before saide) none one autour serueth
to so diuers witts as doth Virgile. For there is nat that affect
or desire, wherto any childes fantasie is disposed, but in some
of Virgils warkes may be founden matter therto apte and
propise.*

* See the Glossary.

> ¢ Perhaps Chapman has gone too far when he says, ‘‘ Virgil hath nothing of
his own, but only elocution ; his invention, matter and form being all Homer’s.”
Yet no smal! part of this sweeping proposition can undoubtedly be made good.
With an extraordinary amount of admitted imitation and of obvious similarity on
the surface, the eid stands, as to almost every fundamental particular, in the
strongest contrast with the //iad. As to metre, figures, names, places, persons,
and times, the two works, where they do not actually concur, stand in as near re’
lations one to another, as seems to be attainable without absolute identity of
subject ; yet it may be doubted whether any two great poems can be named,
which are so profoundly discordant upon almost every point that touches their
interior spirit ; upon everything that relates to the truth of our nature, to the laws
of thought and action, and to veracity in the management of the higher subjects,
such as history, morality, polity, and religion.’—Gladstone, Studies on Homer,
vol. iii. p. 502.

¢ ¢Virgil is at once the copyist of Homer, and for the generality of educated
men, his interpreter. In all modern Europe taken together, Virgil has had ten
who read him, and ten who remember him, for one that Homer could show.
Taking this in conjunction with the great extent of the ground they occupy in
common, we may find reason to think that the traditional and public idea of
Homer’s works, throughout the entire sphere of the Western civilisation, has been
formed, to a much greater degree than could at first be supposed, by the Virgilian
copies from him.’—Jéid. vol. ili. p. 512.

ἃ ‘The variety of incidents,’ says Professor Browne, ‘the consummate skill in
the arrangement of them, the interest which pervades both the plot and the
episodes, fully compensate for the want of originality—a defect of which none but
learned readers would be aware. What sweeter specimens can be found of tender
pathos than the legend of Camilla, and the episode of Nisus and Euryalus?
Where is the turbulence of uncurbed passions united with womanly unselfish fond-
ness and queenlike generosity, painted with a more masterly hand than in the cha-
racter of Dido? Where, even in the //iad, are characters better sustained and
more happily contrasted than the weak Latinus, the soldier-like Turnus, the

δὰ THE GOVERNOUR.

For what thinge can be more familiar than his bucolikes ?*

' nor no warke so nighe approcheth to the commune daliaunce
_and maners of children, and the praty controuersies of the
simple shepeherdes, therin contained, wonderfully reioyceth the
_childe that hereth hit well declared, as I knowe by myne owne
experience. In his Georgikes” lorde what pleasaunt varietie

simple-minded Evander, the feminine and retiring Lavinia, the barbarian Me-
zentius, who to the savageness of a wild beast joined the natural instinct which
warmed with the strongest affection for his son ?...... In personification nothing is
finer than Virgil’s portraiture of Fame, except perhaps Spenser’s Despair. In de-
scription the same genius which shone forth in the Georgics embellishes the 4neid
also; and both the objects and the phenomena of nature are represented in
language equally vivid and striking.’—AHist. of Rom. Class. Lit. pp. 260, 261.

« ©The characters in Virgil’s Bucolics are Italians, in all their sentiments and
feelings, acting the unreal and assumed part of Sicilian shepherds.....Even the
scenery is Sicilian, and does not truthfully describe the tame neighbourhood of
Mantua. So long as it is remembered that they are imitations of the Syracusan
poet, we miss their nationality, and see at once that they are untruthful and out of
keeping ; and Virgil suffers in our estimation, because we naturally compare him
with the original, whom he professes to imitate, and we cannot but be aware of his
inferiority ; but if we can once divest ourselves of the idea of the outward form
which he has chosen to adopt and forget the personality of the characters, we can
feel for the wretched outcast exiled from a happy though humble home, and be
touched by the simple narrative of their disappointed loves and child-like woes ;
can appreciate the delicately veiled compliments paid by the poet to his patron;
can enjoy the inventive genius and poetical power which they display ; and can be
elevated by the exalted sentiments which they sometimes breathe. We feel that
it is all an illusion; but we willingly permit ourselves to be transported from

΄

the matter of fact realities of a hard and prosaic νγοιυ]ά.᾽ --- σέ, of Rom. Class.

Lit. p. 244-246.

> A modern scholar says, ‘The great merit of the Georgics consists in ¢heir
varied digressions, interesting episodes, and sublime bursts of descriptive vigour,
which are interspersed throughout the poem. The first book treats of tillage; the
second of orchards; the subject of the third, which is ¢he xodlest and most spirited
of them, is the care of horses and cattle; and the fourth, which is the most pleasing
and interesting, describes the natural instincts as well as the management of bees......
Dunlop has well observed that Virgil’s descriptions are more like landscape-paint-
ing than any by his predecessors, whether Greek or Roman ; and that it is a re-
markable fact that landscape-painting was first introduced in his time. Pliny, in
his Matural History, informs us that Ludius, who flourished in the lifetime of
Augustus, invented the most delightful style of painting, compositions introducing
porticoes, gardens, groves, hills, fish- ponds, rivers, and other pleasing objects, en-
livened by carriages, animals, and figures. Thus perhaps art. inspired poetry.’—
Browne, Hist. of Rom. Class. Lit. pp. 255, 256, 263. q

THE GOVERNOUR. 63

there is: the diuers graynes, herbes, and flowres that be there
described, that, reding therin, hit semeth to a man to be in a
delectable gardeine or paradise. What ploughe man knoweth
so moche of husbandry as there is expressed ? who, delitynge _
in good horsis, shall nat be therto more enflamed, reding there
of the bredyng, chesinge, and kepyng, of them? In the de-
claration whereof Virgile leaueth farre behynde nye all
breders, hakneymen,* and skoSers.”

Is there any astronomer that more exactly setteth out the
ordre and course of the celestiall bodies: or that more truely
dothe deuine in his pronostications of the tymes of the yere,
in their qualities, with the future astate of all thinges prouided
by husbandry, than Virgile doth recite in that warke ?°

If the childe haue a delite in huntyng, what pleasure shall .
he take of the fable of Aristeus :¢ semblably in the huntynge

* See the Glossary. » See the Glossary.

¢ Professor Conington says, ‘In the Phenomena and Diosmeia, or Prognostics,
of Aratus, we have a specimen of the didactic poetry of the earlier Alexandrian
school. Cicero, who translated both works, speaks of him in a well-known
passage as a writer who, though ignorant of astronomy, made an excellent poem
about the heavenly bodies...... Of the two poems now in question, if they are to be
regarded as two, and not as one falling into two parts, Virgil has been but sparingly
indebted to the first, the plan of the Georgics not leading him to attempt any de-
scription of the stars as they appear in heaven, which is the subject of the Phzeno-
mena, But the other work, the Diosmeia, has been laid under heavy contribu-
tions to furnish materials for that account of the prognostics of the weather which
occupies the latter part of Virgil’s first book...... The whole of the prognostics, signs
of wind, signs of rain, signs of fair weather, signs from sounds by land or by sea,
signs from the flight, the motion, or the cry of birds, signs from the actions of
beasts, reptiles, and insects, signs from the flames of lamps, and the appearances
on water, signs from the sun and moon at their rising and at their setting, are all
given nearly as Aratus has given them, though the manner in which they are dealt
with is Virgil’s own.’—Jniroduction to Georgics, pp. 126, 127.

4 The story of Aristzeus occupies a great portion of the 4th Georgic, v. 317-558.
Professor Conington says, ‘ Whence Virgil derived the story is unknown. Heyne
thinks, from the elaboration, that it must have been closely imitated from some
Alexandrian writer—possibly from a poem which was extant under the name of
Eumelus Βουγονία, as we learn from the Chronicon of Eusebius. A brief version of
the tale is given by Ovid.’— Ubi supra. The differentaccounts of Aristzeus, who once
was a mortal and ascended to the dignity of a god through the benefits he had con-
ferred upon mankind, seem to have arisen in different places and independently of

64 THE GOVERNOUR.

of Dido and Eneas, whiche is discriued moste elegantly in his
boke of Eneidos.* If he haue pleasure in wrastling, rennyng,
or other lyke exercise, where shall he se any more plesant
esbatementes,” than that whiche was done by Eurealus and
other troyans, whiche accompanyed Eneas ?° If he take solace
in hearynge minstrelles, what minstrell may be compared to
Jopas, whiche sange before Dido and Eneas?¢ or to blinde
Demodocus, that played and sange moste swetely at the dyner,
that the kynge Alcinous made to Ulisses:* whose dities and
melodie excelled as farre the songes of our minstrelles, as
Homere and Virgile excelle all other poetes.f

one another, so that they referred to several distinct beings, who were subsequently
identified and united into one. Aristzeus is one of the most beneficent divinities
in ancient mythology ; he was worshipped as the protector of flocks and shepherds,
of vine and olive plantations ; he taught men to hunt and keep bees, and averted
from the fields the burning heat of the sun ; he was θεὸς νόμιος, ἀγρεύς, ἀλεξητήρ.

®* Zneid, iv. 117 foll. > See the Glossary.
* Aineid, ν. 291 foll.
a ‘ Cithara crinitus Iopas

Personat aurata, docuit quem maximus Atlas.

Hic canit errantem lunam solisque labores ;

Unde hominum genus et pecudes ; unde imber et ignes ;
Arcturum pluviasque Hyadas geminosque Triones ;

Quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere soles

Hiberni, vel que tardis mora noctibus obstet;

Ingeminant plausu Tyrii, Troesque sequuntur.’—Zx, i. 740-747.

The name ‘Iopas’ does not occur anywhere else in Virgil,-and Professor Coning-
ton suggests that if this is not an error for ‘ Iarbas,’ we must suppose that Virgil
here, as elsewhere, has chosen to take a hint from chroniclers, to whom it did not
suit him to incur a larger debt. The above passage is referred to by Quintilian
lib. i, cap. 10, § 10.
© Odyssey, viii. 62, foll.
. ‘ Ages elapsed ere Homer’s lamp appeared,
And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard ;
To carry nature lengths unknown before,
To give a Milton birth, asked ages more.’—Cowper’s Table Talk.

These lines are quoted by Mr. Gladstone in the 3rd volume of his Studies on
Homer, where he enters at great length into the question of the relative position of
Homer to some of his successors in epic poetry, in particular Virgil and Tasso.
With regard to the former his opinion is thus graphically expressed : ‘ Homer
walks in the open day, Virgil by lamplight. Homer gives us figures that breathe

a

Ny

THE GOVERNOUR. 65

If he be more desirous, (as the most parte of children be,)
to here thinges marueilous and exquisite, whiche hath in it a
visage of some thinges incredible, wherat shall he more
wonder, than whan he shall beholde Eneas folowe Sibille in to

helle?* What shal he more drede, than the terrible visages

of Cerberous,® Gorgon,° Megera,4 and other furies and
monsters ? Howe shall he abhorre tyranny, fraude;and auarice,
whan he doth se the paynes of duke Theseus,° Prometheus,
Sisiphus,’ and suche other tourmented for their dissolute and
vicious lyuyng. Howe glad soone after shall he be, whan he
shall beholde, in the pleasant feldes of Elisius,® the soules of

and move, Virgil usually treats us to waxwork. Homer has the full force and play
of the drama. Virgil is essentially operatic. From Virgil back to Homer is a
greater distance than from Homer back to life.’ With regard to the latter he says,
‘There is, it must be confessed, a great and sharp descent from the stature of
Homer, as a creative poet, to that of Tasso. Yet he, too, isa classic of Italy, and
a classic of the world ; and if for a moment we feel it a disparagement to his coun

try that she suffers in this ofie comparison, let her soothe her ruffled recollection
by the consciousness that though Tasso has not become a rival to Homer, yet he
shares this failure with every epic writer of every land.’—pp. 512, 554.

® Atnetd, vi. 42-55. > En. Vi. 417-423.

9 ‘ Gorgones, Harpyizeque et forma tricorporis umbre.’—Zx. vi. 280.

‘ Dicuntur geminze pestes cognomine Dirze
Quas et Tartaream Nox intempesta Megzeram
Uno eodemque tulit partu, paribusque revinxit
Serpentum spiris, ventosasque addidit alas.’—2x. xii. 845—848.

4

‘Sedet eeternumque sedebit
Infelix Theseus.’—n, vi. 617.

Professor Conington says that the ordinary legend of Theseus was that having been
fixed in a chair in the shades for his attempt to carry off Persephone, he was re-
leased by Heracles, leaving some of his flesh behind him; Virgil, however, has
varied the story or followed another.

τ ‘Caucasiasque refert volucres furtumque Promethi.’—Zc/. vi. 42.

Hesiod and Aéschylus are the authorities for the well known story of Prometheus,
ε ‘Saxum ingens volvunt 4111," --- νύ. vi. 616.

The traditional punishment of Sisyphus.

h ‘ Devenere locos leetos et amoena vireta

Fortunatorum nemorum sedesque beatas
» Χ % * *

F

66 THE GOVERNOUR.

noble princes and capitaines which, for their vertue, and labours
in aduancing the publike weales of their countrayes, do lyue
eternally in pleasure inexplicable. And in the laste bokes of
Eneidos shall he finde matter to ministre to hym audacite,
valiaunt courage, and policie, to take and susteyne noble
enterprises, if any shall be nedefull for the assailynge of his

enemies.*
Finally (as I haue saide) this noble Virgile, like to a good

norise, giueth to a childe, if he wyll'take it, euery thinge apte
for his witte and capacitie: wherfore he is in the ordre of lernyng
to be preferred before any other autor latine.’ I wolde set

Hic genus antiquum Teucri, pulcherrima proles,

Magnanimi heroes, nati melioribus annis,

Tlusque Assaracusque et Troize Dardanus auctor.

* * a * * *

Hic manus ob patriam pugnando vulnera passi,

Quique sacerdotes casti, dum vita manebat,

Quique pii vates et Phoebo digna locuti,

Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes,

Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo,

Omnibus his nivea cinguntur tempora vitta.’—.Z, vi. 638 foll.

According to Professor Conington, Elysium is not a natural place for purgation ;
it is evidently the everlasting reward of a good life, not a place of temporary
sojourn previous to a return to earth. And this view seems to have been anti-
cipated by our author in the text.

* Evidently alluding to such passages as that in which Virgil narrates the
courageous example exhibited by the heroine Camilla, who undertook to engage
the whole Trojan army, and the spirit-stirring speech addressed by her to the
commander of the Rutulian troops.—4, xi. 502 foll. ,

The ‘ policie’ probably refers to the description of the stratagem devised by
Turnus for the purpose of surprising the enemy’s forces. —n, xi. 511 foll.

> By Saint Augustine he is called ‘ Poeta magnus omniumque prezclarissimus
atque optimus.’ But though this tribute is as exaggerated as that paid by Proper-
tius, who considered Virgil superior to Homer, it is not difficult to understand
the preference expressed by the author in the text. ‘ Want of originality,’ says
Professor Browne ‘was not considered a blemish in an age, the taste of which,
notwithstanding all its merits, was very artificial ; whilst the exquisite polish and
elegance which constitute the charm of Latin poetry recommended it both for
admiration and imitation. Hence English poets have been deeply indebted to the
Romans for their most happy thoughts, and our native literature is largely im-
bued witha Virgilian and Horatian spirit. The Georgics have been frequently taken

THE GOVERNOUR. 67

nexte unto hym two bokes of Quid, the one called Metamor-
phosios,* whiche is as moche to saye as, chaungynge of men
in to other figure or fourme: the other is intitled De fastis :»
where the ceremonies of the gentiles, and specially the Romanes,
be expressed : bothe right necessary for the understandynge

of other poetes. But by cause. there is litell other lernyng in

them, concernyng either vertuous maners or policie, I_suppose

it were better that as fables and ceremonies happen to come

in a lesson, it were declared abundantly by the maister than
that in the saide two” bokés, ἃ Tonge tyme shulde be spente
and < almost lost : which. mought be better employed on suche

ee er

dutors that do. minister both eloquence, ς ciuile e policie, and ex-

hortation to vertue. Wherfore in his place let us bringe in
a0) τος,

as a model for imitation, and our descriptive poets have drawn largely from this
source.’—Hist. of Rom. Class. Lit. p. 256. From the expressions in the text it would
rather seem as if the author’s grounds for recommending Virgil as a text book
were the same as those of his contemporary Sturm, the rector of the college at
Strasbourg, who, we are told, ‘asserted that the proper end of school education is
eloquence, or in modern phrase a masterly command of language; and, at the
same time, assumed that Latin is the language in which eloquence is to be ac-
quired.’ One of the most recent, and, at the same time, most severe critics of
Virgil, isnevertheless constrained to call the eid ‘ perhaps, as a whole, the most
majestic poem that the European mind has in any age produced.’— Studies on
Homer, vol. iii. p. 503.

@ Professor Browne calls this poem ‘ Ovid’s noblest effort :’ and says that in it
‘may be traced that study and learning by which the Roman poets made all the
treasures of Greek literature their own. In fact, a more extensive knowledge of
Greek mythology may be derived from it than from the Greeks themselves,
because the books which were the sources of his information are unfortunately no
longer extant.’—/ist. of Rom. Class, Lit. p. 322.

» ©The Fasd is an antiquarian poem on the Roman Calendar. It is a beautiful
specimen of simple narrative in verse,.and displays, more than any of his works,
his power of telling a story, without the slightest effort, in poetry as well as
prose. Asa profound study of Greek mythology and poetry had furnished the
materials for his Metamorphoses and other poems, so in this he drew principally
from the legends which had been preserved by the old poets and annalists.of his own
country.’—Jéid; p. 323. ‘ With these fair and sounding verses,’ says Dr. Merivale,
‘the poet satisfied the ecclesiastical spirit of the times, which leant with fond reli-
ance on forms and traditions, and was less a thing to be felt than to be talked
about.’—/7ist. of Rome, vol. iv. p. 605.

F2

68 THE GOVERNOUR.

Horace, in whom is contayned moche varietie of lernynge and

quickenesse of sentence.*
This poet may be enterlaced with the lesson of Odissea of

Homere, wherin is declared the wonderfull prudence and
fortitude of Ulisses in his passage from Troy. And if the
childe were induced to make versis by the imitation of Virgile
and Homere, it shulde ministre to hym moche dilectation and
courage to studie:” ne the making of versis is nat discom-

* ‘It is in his inimitable Odes that the genius of Horace as a poet is especially
displayed. They have never been equalled in beauty of sentiment, gracefulness of
language, and melody of versification. They comprehend every variety of subject
suitable to the lyric muse. They rise without effort to the most elevated topics—
the grandest subjects of history, the most gorgeous legends of mythology, the
noblest aspirations of patriotism ; they descend to the simplest joys and sorrows
of every-day life. Atone time they burn with indignation, at another they pour
forth accents of the tenderest emotions. They present in turn every phase of the
author’s character ; some remind us that he was a philosopher and a satirist ; and
although many are sensuous and self-indulgent, they are full of gentleness, kind-
ness, and spirituality.—ist. of Rom. Class. Lit, p. 291.

> Verse composition formed an important part of the curriculum in Germany
as well as in England in the sixteenth century ; thus, as Mr. C. S. Parker tells us,
Melanchthon, in his report on schools (1528), recommended this exercise as ‘a
great help to understanding the writings of others, makes the boys rich in words,
and gives dexterity in many things ;’ and while Sturm presided over the school
at Strasburg (1538-1583) we find that ‘the practice of composition is incessant.
Verses aie begun in the fifth; the upper forms transpose odes of Horace and
Pindar into other metres, and produce poems of their own. ... Materials as well
as models for composition are furnished by constantly reading and learning by
heart the best authors, and by systematic excerption of phrases and ‘‘flowers.”’
At Eton, under Udall, in 1560, Latin verses were written on subjects such as
might still be set in the lower forms. What a change has come over the spirit of
modern schoolmasters and tutors with regard to verse-making as an educational
implement we may learn from Mr. Sidgwick’s essay on the Zheory of Classical
Education, in which he says, ‘ Perhaps the most singular assumption is that it is
an essential part of the study of Greek and Latin to cultivate the faculty of writing
what ought to be poetry in these tongues. . . the imitation that is encouraged at
schools in the process of verse-writing is the very worst sort of imitation; it is
something which, if it were proposed in respect of any other models than these, we
should at once reject as intolerably absurd.’ But ‘vixere fortes ante Agamemnona,’
and as the most recent opponent of the system reminds us, ‘ Names of the most
splendid eminence over a space of two centuries can be quoted in its condemna-
tion ; Cowley, Milton, Bacon, Locke, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Macaulay, Thirl-
wall, Ruskin, Mill—some of our most learned poets, some of our deepest meta-

Ee δ μν.. ἡ.

THE GOVERNOUR. 69

mended in a noble man: sens the noble Augustus and almost
all the olde emperours made bokes in versis.*

The two noble poetis Silius,» and Lucane,® be very ex-
pedient to be lerned: for the one setteth out the ¢,,
emulation in qualities and prowesse of two noble and Zcanus.
valiant capitaynes, one, enemy to the other, that is to say,
Silius writeth of Scipio the Romane, and Haniball duke of

physicians, some of our most classical historians, some of our most brilliant scholars
—are unanimous in speaking of it with indifference or with contempt.’

® €Poeticam summatim attigit. Unus liber extat, scriptus ab eo hexametris
versibus, cujus et argumentum et titulus est ‘‘ Sicilia.” Extat alter eque modicus
‘‘ Epigrammatum,” quee fere tempore balnei meditabatur.’—Sueton. Octavius, 85.

> The great work of Silius Italicus, entitled Punica, has been described by a
modern writer as ‘the dullest and most tedious poem in the Latin language.’
Professor Browne says, ‘the criticism of Pliny the Younger is upon the whole
just, ‘‘ Scridebat carmina majori curd quam ingenio ;” for although it is impossible
to read his poem with pleasure as a whole, his versification is harmonious, and will
often in point of smoothness bear comparison with that of Virgil.’—/ist. of Rom.
Class. Lit. p. 464. The Punica was first brought to light after the revival of letters
by Poggio, the Florentine, who was born in 1381, and died in 1459, having been
discovered by him while attending the Council of Constance, 1414-1418 It was,
perhaps, owing to its comparatively recent acquisition that Sir Thomas Elyot
attached what may appear to modern scholars a somewhat exaggerated importance
to this ‘ponderous’ work. Niebuhr calls him ‘the most wretched of all poets,’
and says that he ‘made only a paraphrase of Livy.’

¢ By modern writers Lucan has been assigned a place at the head of the epic
poets who flourished during the silver age. Professor Browne considers the
Pharsalia (the only one of the poet’s works which survives) to be defaced with
great faults and blemishes. ‘Its arrangement,’ he says, ‘is that of annals, and
therefore it wants the unity of an epic poem ; it has not the connectedness of his-
tory, because the poet naturally selected only the most striking and romantic in-
cidents, and yet, notwithstanding these defects in the plan, the historical pictures
themselves are beautifully drawn. The characters of Cesar and Pompey, for
example, are masterpieces...... Description forms the principal feature in the
poetry of Lucan ; it occupies more than one-half of the Parsadia, so that it might
almost as appropriately be termed a descriptive as an epic poem...... Owing to
the enthusiasm with which Lucan throws himself into this kind of writing, he
abounds in minute detail...... He is not content, as Virgil is, with a sketch —
with broad lights and shadows ; he delights in a finished picture ; he possesses the
power of placing his subject strongly before the eyes, leaving little or nothing for
the imagination to supply. ..... Virgil sketches, Lucan paints; the latter
describes physically, the former philosophically.’—-Hist. of Rom. Class. Lit,

PP: 455, 459.

70 THE GOVERNOUR.

"»Ἅ

Cartaginensis: Lucane declareth a semblable mater, but
moche more lamentable: for as moche as the warres were
ciuile, and, as it were, in the bowelles of the Romanes,
that is to say, under the standerdes of Julius Cesar and
Pompei.

Hesiodus, in greke, is more briefe than Virgile, where
he writeth of husbandry, and doth-nat rise so high in

philosophie, but is fuller of fables: and therfore is more |

illecebrous.* .

And here I conclude to speke any more of poetis, necessary
for the childehode of a gentill man: for as moche as these, I
doubt nat, will suffice untill he passe the age of xiii yeres. In
which time childhode declineth, and reason waxeth rype, and
deprehendeth thinges with a more constant iugement. Here
I wolde shulde be remembred, that I require nat that all these
warkes shud be throughly radde of a childe in this tyme,
whiche were almost impossible. But I only desire that they
haue, in euery of the saide bokes, so moche instruction that
they may take therby some profite.

* A modern writer has used very similar language with regard to Hesiod.
‘ As the poet’s object was not to describe the charms of a country life, but to
teach all the means of honest gain which were then open to the Ascrzean coun-
tryman, he proceeds after having completed the subject of husbandry, to treat with
equal detail that of navigation ..... All these precepts relating to the works of
industry interrupt somewhat suddenly the succession of economical rules for the
management of a family...... Mythical narratives, fables, descriptions, and
moral apophthegms partly of a proverbial kind, are ingeniously chosen and com-
bined so as to illustrate and enforce the principal idea....... The opinion that
Hesiod received the form of his poetry from Homer cannot well be reconciled
with the wide difference which appears in the spirit and character of the two styles
of epic poetry...... The Homeric poems among all the forms in which poetry
can appear possess in the greatest degree what in modern times is called odjec-
tivity ; that is, a complete abandonment of the mind to the oédyect, without any
intervening consciousness of the situation or circumstances of the sadject, or the
individual himself. Homer’s mind moves in a world of lofty thoughts and energetic
actions, far removed from the wants and necessities of the present. There can
be no doubt that this is the noblest and most perfect style of composition and the
best adapted to epic poetry. Hesiod, however, never soars to this height. We
prefers to show us his own domestic life, and to make us feel its wants and priva-
tioas.’—Hist. of Gr. Lit, vol. i. pp. 110, 112, 113.

THE GOVERNOUR. "τ

Than the childes courage, inflamed by the frequent redynge
of noble poetes, dayly more and more desireth top)...
haue experience in those thinges, that they so vehe- fended and
mently do commende in them, that they write of. 2754.

Leonidas, the noble kynge of Spartanes, beinge ones

demaunded, of what estimation in poetry Tirtzus, (as he sup-
posed,) was, it is writen that he answeryng saide, that, for
sterynge the myndes of yonge men he was excellent, for as
moche as they, being meued with his versis, do renne in to the
bataile, regardyng no perile, as men all inflamed in martiall

courage.®
And whan a man is comen to mature yeres, and that reason

in him is confirmed with serious lerning and longe experience, ἡ

than shall he, in redyng tragoedies, execrate and abhorre the
intollerable life of tyrantes : and shall contemne the foly and

dotage expressed by poetes lasciuious. ;
Here wyll I leaue to speake of the fyrste parte of a noble

mannes studie : and nowe wyll I write of the seconde parte,
which is more serious, and containeth in it sondry maners of

lernynge.

® Λεωνίδαν μὲν γὰρ τὸν παλαιὸν λέγουσιν ἐπερωτηθέντα, ποῖός τις αὐτῷ φαίνεται
ποιητὴς γεγονέναι Τυρταῖος, εἰπεῖν " “᾿Αγαθὸς νέων ψυχὰς κακκανῆν. ᾿Ἐμπιπλάμενοι
γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ποιημάτων ἐνθουσιασμοῦ παρὰ τὰς μάχας ἠφείδουν éEavtav.—Plut, Cleo-
menes, 2. Compare Horace in the Ars Poetica :

‘ Tyrteeusque mares animos in Martia bella
Versibus exacuit.’

K. O. Miiller says: ‘ When the Spartans were on a campaign, it was their custom,
after the evening meal, when the pzean had been sung in honour of the gods, to
recite these elegies. On these occasions the whole mess did not join in the chant,
but individuals vied with each other in repeating the verses in a manner worthy of
their subject. This kind of recitation was so well adapted to the elegy that it is
highly probable that Tyrtzeus himself first published his elegies in this manner.’—
Hist. of Gr. Lit. vol. i. p. 150. It may be observed that the practice of singing
patriotic songs has been retained by soldiers down to our own time; thus the
‘Wacht-am Rhein’ was constantly heard at Prussian bivouacs during the cam-
paign of 1870, whilst the ‘ Marseillaise’ was the favourite song of the French

army.

72 THE GOVERNOUR.

CHAPTER ΧΙ.

The moste commodious and necessary studies succedyng ordinatly the
lesson of poetes.

AFTER that xiv. yeres be passed of a childes age, his maister
if he can, or some other, studiouslye exercised in the arte of
an oratour, shall firste rede to hym some what of that parte of
Logite, logike that is called Zopica,* eyther of Cicero, or els
Topica. οὗ that noble clerke of Almaine, which late floured,
called Agricola :® whose warke prepareth inuention, tellynge
the places from whens an argument for the profe of any mater
may be taken with litle studie: and that lesson, with moche
and diligent lernyng, hauyng mixte there with none other
exercise, will in the space of halfe a yere be perfectly kanned.
Immediately after that, the arte of Rhetorike wolde
be semblably taught, either in greke, out of Hermo-

Rhetorik.

* Ὁ, Trebatius, the celebrated jurisconsult, having found himself unable to
comprehend the Zofics of Aristotle, which treat of the invention of arguments, and
having failed in procuring any explanation from a celebrated rhetorician whose aid
he sought, had frequently applied to Cicero for information and assistance. Cicero’s
incessant occupations prevented him for a long time from attending to these soli-
citations ; but when he was sailing towards Greece, the summer after Czesar’s
death, he was reminded of Trebatius by the sight of Velia, a city with which the
lawyer was closely connected, and accordingly, while on board ship, he drew up
from recollection the work called Topica and dispatched it to his friend from
Rhegium, B.c. 44. It is in fact an abstract of the original expressed in plain
familiar terms, illustrated by examples derived chiefly from Roman law instead of
from Greek philosophy. The editio princeps is believed to. have been published
at Venice about A.D. 1472.’—Smith’s Dict. of Biography.

_ » Rodolph Agricola of Groningen was born in 1442. There are but two works

[ of his extant, De Jnventione Dialecticd, printed at Louvain, 1516, and an abridg-
ment of ancient history under the title of Agricole Lucubrationes, published at

| Cologne in 1539. About 1482 Agricola was invited to the court of the elector-

palatine at Heidelberg. He seems not to have been engaged in public instruction,
| but passed the remainder of his life, unfortunately too short—-for he died in 148 5—
in diffusing and promoting a taste for literature among his contemporaries, ‘No
German,’ says Hallam, ‘ wrote in so pure a style or possessed so large a portion
of classical learning.’ Erasmus calls him ‘ virum divini pectoris, eruditionis recon-
dite, stylo minimé vulgari, solidum, nervosum, elaboratum, compositum. In Italia
summus esse poterat, nisi Germaniam preetulisset.’

THE GOVERNOUR. 73

gines,* or of Quintilian” in latine, begynnyng at the thirde
boke,° and instructyng diligently the childe in that parte of
rhethorike, principally, whiche concerneth persuation :4 for as
moche as it is most apte for consultations. There can be no
shorter instruction of Rhetorike than the treatise that Tulli
wrate unto his sonne, which boke is named the partition of
rhetorike.e And in good faythe, to speake boldly that I thinke :
for him that nedeth nat, or doth nat desire, to be an exquisite
oratour, the litle boke made by the famous Erasmus,
(whom all gentill wittis are bounden to thanke and

* This celebrated rhetorician flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. His
works, five in number, which are still extant, fourm together a complete system of
rhetoric, and were for a long time used in all the rhetorical schools as manuals.
It may be mentioned as an interesting fact that the treatise Περὶ Τῶν Στάσεων was
first printed at Paris the same year in which 7he Governour was published. The
work treats of the points and questions which an orator in civil cases has to take into
his consideration, and is a useful guide to those who prepare themselves for speak-
ing in the courts of justice. Another treatise, Περὶ ᾿1δ.ῶν, was also printed at Paris
in the year 1531, and no doubt Sir Thomas Elyot had access to both these
works.

» A modern writer considers Quintilian far superior to Cicero as a teacher,
although he was inferior to him as an orator, and says, ‘ He has left, as a monument
of his taste and genius, a text-book of the science and art of nations as well as a
masterly sketch of the eloquence of antiquity.’"—/7is¢. of Rom. Class, Lit. p. 540.
His works were discovered by Poggio in the monastery of St. Gall, near Constance,
during the sitting of the celebrated council, 1418. Niebuhr considers Quintilian
the restorer of a good and pure taste in Roman literature.

® Jn the third book, after a short notice of the principal writers on rhetoric, he
divides his subjects into five parts, viz. invention, arrangement, style, memory
both natural and artificial, and delivery or action. Closely following Aristotle, he
then discusses the three kinds of oratory, the demonstrative, deliberative, and
judicial.’ —Hist. of Rom. Class. Lit. p. 537.

4 « Affectus ut que maxime postulat ; nam et concitanda et lenienda frequenter
est ira, et ad metum, cupiditatem, odium, conciliationem, impellendi animi ; non-
nunquam etiam movenda miseratio, sive ut auxilium obsessis feratur, suadere
oportebit, sive socize civitatis eversionem deflebimus . . . quare in suadendo et
dissuadendo tria primum spectanda erunt—Quid sit de quo deliberetur ; Qui sint
qui deliberent ; Qui sit qui suadeat.’—/nstit. Orat. lib. iii. cap. 8, 88. 12, 15.

ὁ The De fartitione Oratorié has been correctly described as a catechism of
Rhetoric, according to the method of the Middle Academy, by way of question and
answer, drawn up by Cicero for the instruction of his son Marcus. The earliest
edition of this work in a separate form which bears a date is that by Gabriel
Fontana, printed A.D. 1472. - Smith’s Dict. of Biography.

Erasmus.

74 THE GOVERNOUR.

supporte), whiche he calleth Copiam Verborum et Rerum; that
is to say, plentie of wordes and maters, shall be sufficient.
Isocrates,” concerning the lesson of oratours, is euery where
wonderfull profitable, hauynge almost as many wyse sentences
as he hath wordes: and with that is so swete*® and delectable
to rede, that, after him, almost all other seme unsauery and

® The full title of this work is De Duplici Copia Verborum ac Rerum Com-
mentarii duo. It was written expressly for Colet’s school, as we learn from the
preface, which bears the date 1512, though the work itself was probably not
published till two years later. The author says : ‘ Ego sané non ignarus et quantum
Angliz debeam publicé et quantopere tibi (Colet) privatim sim obnoxius, officii
mei sum arbitratus literarium aliquod munusculum in ornamentum schol tuze
conferre. Itaque duos novos De Cop~id commentarios nove schole nuncupare
visum est opus, videlicet cum aptum pueritiz tum non infrugiferum ni fallor
futurum ; sed quantum habeat eruditionis, quantumve sit utilitatis allaturus hic
labor meus, aliorum esto judicium.’ St. Paul’s school was founded 1510. Ina
letter (Epist. lib. x. 18) from Erasmus to Colet, dated Cambridge, Oct. 29, 1513,
the former says: ‘In absolvenda Cofid med munc sum totus, ut jam senigmatis
instar videri possit me simul et in media cofié et in summa versari inopiaé. Atque
utinam liceat utramgue pariter finire; nam Copie brevi finem imponam, si modo
Musze melius fortunarint studia quam hactenus Fortuna rem. Atque id quidem in
causa fuit quo et brevius et indiligentius tuis literis responderim.’ Mr. Seebohm
(Oxford Reformers, p. 216, n.) says the De Copid was printed May, 1512, but this
is evidently a mistake, and he was probably misled by the date at the end of
the preface mentioned above. Mr. Seebohm gives, however, a reference to the
letter No. 4528, in Mr. Brewer’s collection, which should have precluded the pos-
sibility of such an error, inasmuch as the date assigned by the latter to Erasmus’s
letter, corresponds with that given above. The book was several times reprinted.

> “Over and above the great care which he took about the formation of his style,
Isocrates had a decided genius for the art of rhetoric; and when we read his
periods, we may well believe what he tells us, that the Athenians, alive as they
were to beauties of this kind, felt a real enthusiasm for his writings, and friends
and enemies vied in imitating their megic elegance. When we read aloud the
panegyrical orations of Isocrates, we feel that, although they want the vigour and
profundity of Thucydides or Aristotle, there is a power in them which we miss in
every former work of rhetoric—a power which works upon the mind as well as
upon the ear ; we are carried along by a full stream of harmonious diction, which
is strikingly different from the rugged sentences of Thucydides and the meagre
style of Lysias. The services which Isocrates has performed in this respect reach
far beyond the limits of his own school. Without his reconstruction of the style
of Attic oratory we could have had no Demosthenes and no Cicero; and through
these the school of Isocrates has extended its influence even to the oratory of our
own day.’—Miiller, Hist. of Gr. Lit. vol. ii. p. 153.

* Cicero, De Orat. iii. 7, attributes ‘sweetness’ to Isocrates.

THE GOVERNOUR. 75

tedious : and in persuadynge, as well a prince, as a priuate
persone, to vertue, in two very litle and compendious warkes,
wherof he made the one to kynge Nicocles,* the other to his
frende Demonicus, wolde be perfectly kanned, and had in con-
tinual memorie.

Demosthenes? and Tulli,° by the consent of all lerned men,

@ The tract Vicocles is an exhortation to the Salaminians to obey their new
ruler ; and his harangue Zo JVicocles is an exhortation addressed to the young
ruler on the duties and virtues of a sovereign. — Hist. of Gr. Lit. vol. ii p. 150, n.

» ©The style and characteristics of Demosthenes have furnished the ancient critic
Dionysius of Halicarnassus with the materials for a special treatise; and a great
modern orator, Lord Brougham, has made this master of ancient eloquence the
theme of more than one glowing tribute of praise. As Thucydides was 214
historian and. Homer ¢he poet of the old grammarians in a special and em-
phatic sense, so Demosthenes was their orator far excellence. WHermogenes
places him at the head of all political speakers, and the same was the opinion
of Theon. Cicero calls him the prince of orators, and declares that nothing
was wanting to his perfection. ... It appears to us that the main charac-
teristic of the eloquence of Demosthenes—that, in fact, which explains the
wonderful effects produced by it on popular assemblies—is this, that he used the
common language of his age and country, that he took the greatest pains in
choosing and arranging his words, that he aimed at the utmost conciseness, making
epithets, even common adjectives, do the work of a whole sentence; and that he
was enabled by a perfect delivery and action to give the proper emphasis and the
full effect to the terms which he had selected with so much care, so that a sentence
composed of ordinary terms sometimes smote with the weight of a sledge-
hammer.’—/ist. of Gr. Lit. vol. ii. pp. 342, 344. Almost exactly the same thing
has been said of an eminent living speaker, Mr. Bright.

¢ Professor Browne says : ‘ As oratory gave to Latin prose-writing its elegance
and dignity, Cicero is not only the representative of the flourishing period of the
language, but also the instrumental cause of its arriving at perfection. Circum-
stances may have been favourable to his influence. The national mind may have
been in that stage of progress which only required a master-genius to develop it ;
but still it was he who gave a fixed character to the language, who showed his
countrymen what eloquence especially was in its combination of the precepts of "
art and the principles of natural beauty ; what the vigour of Latin was, and of what
elegance and polish it was capable...... Compared with the dignified enefgy and

-majestic vigour of the Athenian orator, the Asiatic exuberance of some of his

orations may be fatiguing to the sober and chastened taste of the modern classical
scholar ; but in order to form a just appreciation, he must transport himself men-
tally to the excitements of the thronged Forum—-to the Senate composed not of
aged venerable men, but statesmen and warriors in the prime of life, maddened
with the party spirit of revolutionary times—to the presence of the jury of judices |
as,numerous as a deliberative assembly, whose office was not merely calmly to

76 THE GOVERNOUR.

haue preeminence and soueraintie ouer all oratours: the one
reignyng in wonderfull eloquence in the publike weale of the
Romanes, who had the empire and dominion of all the worlde:
the other, of no lasse estimation, in the citie of Athenes, whiche
of longe tyme was accounted the mother of Sapience, and the
palaice of musis and all liberall sciences. Of whiche two
oratours may be attayned, nat onely eloquence, excellent and
perfecte, but also preceptes of wisedome, and gentyll maners:
with most commodious examples of all noble vertues and
pollicie. Wherfore the maister, in redynge them, muste well
obserue and expresse the partis and colours of rhetorike in
them contayned, accordynge to the preceptes of that arte
before lerned.

The utilitie that a noble man shall haue by redyng these
oratours, is, that, whan he shall happe to reason in counsaile,
or shall speke in a great audience, or to strange ambassadours

᾿ of great princes, he shall nat be constrayned to speake wordes

sodayne and disordred, butshal bestowe them aptly and in their
places. Wherfore the moste noble emperour Octauius is highly
commended, for that he neuer spake in the Senate, or
to the people of Rome, but in an oration prepared and
purposely made.*

Also to prepare the childe to understandynge of histories,
whiche, beinge replenished with the names of countrayes and
townes unknowen to the reder, do make the historie tedious or
Cosmo. 5 the lasse pleasant, so if they be in any wyse
graphie, \knowen, it encreaseth an inexplicable delectation.
ys agh It shall be therfore, and also for refreshing the witte,
therof. a conuenient lesson to beholde the olde tables of

Octauius.

give their verdict of guilty or not guilty, but who were invested as representatives
of the sovereign people with the prerogative of pardoning or condemning, Viewed
in this light, his most florid passages will appear free from affectation—the natural
flow of a speaker carried away with the torrent of his enthusiasm.’—//is¢. of Rom.
Class. Lit. pp. 328, 342.

* «Nam deinceps neque in Senatu, neque apud populum, neque apud milites
locutus est unquam, nisi meditata et composita oratione, quamvis non deficeretur
ad subita extemporali facultate.’—Sueton. Octavius, 84,

THE GOVERNOUR. 77

Ptholomee,* where in all the worlde is paynted, hauynge firste
some introduction in to the sphere, wherof nowe of late be
made very good treatises, and more playne and easie to lerne
than was wonte to be.

All be it there is none so good lernynge as the demon-
stration of cosmographie by materiall figures and instrumentes,
hauynge a good instructour.. And surely this lesson is bothe
pleasant and necessary. For what pleasure is it, in one houre,
to beholde those realmes, cities, sees, ryuers, and mountaynes,
that uneth in an olde mannes life can nat be iournaide and
pursued: what incredible delite is taken in beholding the
diuersities of people, beastis, foules, fisshes, trees, frutes, and

-herbes: to knowe the sondry maners and conditions of people,

* *The system of maps described at the end of Ptolemy’s geography exists in
some of the manuscripts of the work, in which they are attributed to Agatho-
demon of Alexandria, supposed to have lived in the fifth century, and to have
derived his materials from the maps drawn up by Ptolemy himself. These maps,
which are twenty-seven in number, are elaborately coloured, the sea being green,
the mountains red or dark yellow, and the land white.’—/ist. of Gr. Lit. vol. iii.
p- 269. The climates, parallels, and the hours of the longest day are marked on
the east margin of the maps, and the meridians on the north and south. Various
errors having in the course of time crept into the copies of the maps, Nicolaus
Donis, a Benedictine monk, about A.D. 1470, restored and corrected them, substi-
tuting Latin for Greek names. His maps are appended to the Ebnerian MS. of
Ptolemy.—Smith’s Dict. of Biog. Agathodemon. ‘The art of engraving figures
on plates of copper was nearly coeval with that of printing, and is due either to
Thomas Finiguerra about 1460, or to some German about the same time. It was
not a difficult step to apply this invention to the representation of geographical
maps ; and this we owe to Arnold Buckinck, an associate of the printer Sweyn-
heim. His edition of Ptolemy’s geography appeared at Rome in 1478.’—Zz¢.
of Europe, vol. i. p. 188. Hallam attributes the increasing attention bestowed
upon geographical delineations during the fifteeenth century to two causes, besides
the increase of commerce and the gradual accumulation of knowledge: Ist. The
translations made early in the century from the cosmography of Ptolemy ; 2nd.
The discoveries of the Portuguese on the coast of Africa under the patronage of
Don Henry, who founded an academy in which nautical charts were first delineated
ina manner more useful to sailors by projecting the meridians in parallel right lines
instead of curves on the surface of the sphere.—Ui supra.

» Hallam says: ‘Though these early maps and charts of the fifteenth century
are to us but a chaos of error and confusion, it was on them that the patient eye of
Columbus had rested through long hours of meditation, while strenuous hope and
unsubdued doubt were struggling in his soul.’—Zit. of Europe, vol. i. p. 189.

78 THE GOVERNOUR.

and the varietie of their natures, and that in a warme studie
or perler, without perill of the see, or daunger of longe and
paynfull iournayes: I can nat tell what more pleasure shulde
happen to a gentil witte, than to beholde in his owne house
euery thynge that with in all the worlde is contained. The
commoditie.therof knewe the great kynge Alexander, as some
writars do remembre. For he caused the countrayes wherunto
he purposed any enterprise, diligently and counningly to be
discribed and paynted, that, beholdynge. the picture, he mought
perceyue whiche places were most daungerous: and where he
and his host mought haue most easy and couenable passage.*

Semblably dyd the Romanes in the rebellion of France,
and the insurrection of theyr confederates, settynge up a table
openly, wherin Italy was painted, to the intent that the people
lokyng in it, shuld reason and consulte in whiche places hit
were best to resiste or inuade their ennemies.”

* Presumably this must be taken to refer to the statement of Strabo, who says,
in speaking of the amount of credit to be given to Patrocles: Οὐδὲ τοῦτο δὲ ἀπί-
θανον τοῦ Πατροκλέους, ὅτι φησὶ τοὺς ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ συστρατεύσαντας ἐπιδρομάδην
ἱστορῆσαι ἕκαστα, αὐτὸν δὲ ᾿Αλέξανδρον ἀκριβῶσαι, ἀναγραψάντων τὴν ὅλην χώραν
τῶν ἐμπειροτάτων αὐτῷ" τὴν δ᾽ ἀναγραφὴν αὐτῷ δοθῆναί φησιν ὕστερον ὑπὸ Ξενο-
κλέους τοῦ γαζοφύλακος.---ΤῊΡ, ii. cap. 1, § 6. Compare Arrian, lib. vi. 24. Pliny
mentions ‘itinerum mensores’ as accompanying the expeditions of Alexander, lib,
vi. 21, and vii. 2; and Athenzus cites Bzton, whom he calls ᾿Αλεξάνδρου βημα-
τιστὴς and refers to his work, which he styles Sra®uol τῆς ᾿Αλεξάνδρου πορείας ; but
none of the above passages can be said to bear out the assertion in the text. Sir
Thomas Elyot would seem to have been consulting the Zus¢itutions of Vegetius
De Re Militari, which were published not long previously, ‘That author says ;
‘ Primum itineraria omnium regionum, in quibus bellum geritur, plenissimé debet
habere perscripta ; ita ut locorum intervalla, non solum_passuum numero, sed etiam
viarum qualitates perdiscat ; compendia, diverticula, montes, flumina, ad fidem
descripta consideret ; usque adeo, ut sollertiores duces itineraria provinciarum, in
quibus necessitas gerebatur, non tantum adnotata, sed etiam picta habuisse firmen-
tur ; ut non solum consilio mentis, verum aspectu oculorum, viam profecturi elige-
rent.’—Lib. iii. cap. 6.

» It is difficult to understand to what this description can apply, unless to the
Map of the Empire commenced by Julius Cesar and completed by Agrippa, of
whom Pliny tells us ‘ Agrippam quidem in tanta viri diligentia, praeterque in hoc
opere cura, orbem cum terrarum orbi spectandum propositurus esset, errasse quis
credat, et cum eo Divum Augustum? Is namque complexam eum porticum ex desti-
natione et commentariis M, Agrippze ἃ sorore sua inchoatam peregit.’— Vat. //ist.

--------ς----

AY

THE GOVERNOUR. 79

I omitte, for length of the matter, to write of Cirus,* the
great kinge of Perse, Crassus” the Romane, and dyuers other
valiant and experte capitaines: whiche haue lost them selfes
and all their army by ignorance of this doctryne.

Wherfore it maye nat be of any wyse man denied, but
that Cosmographie is to all noble men, nat only pleasant, but
profitable also, and wonderfull necessary.

lib. iii. cap 3. Merivale says: ‘Caesar proposed to execute a complete map of the
empire from actual survey. He divided the whole extent of the Roman world into
four portions, and appointed men of approved science as commissioners to examine
them personally throughout. The work was to be executed: in the most minute
manner. The Roman land-surveyors had long been familiar with the technical
processes by which the inequalities of natural limits are duly measured and regis-
tered. Throughout Italy, and in many of the provinces every estate was elaborately
marked out on the surface of the soil, and its extent and configuration inscribed
on tablets of brass, and preserved with scrupulous care.’—Aist. of Rome, vol. ii.
Ῥ. 422. It is possible that Propertius alludes to this map when he says :

‘ Cogor et é tabula pictos ediscere mundos
Qualis et hzec docti sit positura Dei.
Que tellus sit lenta gelu quze putris ab zestu,
Ventus in Italiam qui bene vela ferat.’—Lib. iv. el. 3. 27.

* Tt was after the death of Cyrus, however, that the ten thousand Greeks
encountered the difficulties which form the subject of the Anabasis.

» «Throughout the whole Parthian campaign he (Crassus) exhibited so much
imprudence and such a complete neglect of the first principles of military art that
premature age may be thought to have impaired his faculties. He was quite un-
informed as to the character and resources of the enemy he was going to attack
fancied that he should have an easy conquest over unwarlike people ; that count-
less treasures lay before him, and that it would be a matter of no difficulty to out-
strip the glory of his predecessors, Scipio, Lucullus, and Pompey, and push on his
army to Bactria and India. He did not attempt to take advantage of the intestine
dissensions in Parthia, did not form any cordial union with the Armenians and
other tribes who were hostile to the Parthians, and did not obtain correct informa-
tion as to the position of the enemy’s force and the nature of the country.’—
Smith’s Dict. of Biog. Plutarch says of him : ’AAX’, ὡς ἔοικε, καὶ τοῖς σπουδάζουσι
περὶ αὐτὸν ἐδόκει κατὰ Thy κωμικὸν ἄνὴρ, ΓΑριστος εἶναι τἄλλα πλὴν ἐν ἀσπίδι.--- Λε.
cum Crass. Comp. 3. It was αἱ Charrhe, the Sedan of antiquity, that Crassus
met with his death by treachery, and the whole Roman army surrendered igno-
miniously to the Parthians. It was calculated that 20,000 men perished in this
calamitous expedition, and that half that number were made prisoners. ‘The
names of Charrhe and Cannz,’ says Merivale, ‘were blended together on the

bloodiest page of the national annals.’—/7ist. of Rome, vol. i. p. 532.

80 THE GOVERNOUR.,

In the parte of cosmographie wherwith historie is mingled
Strabo* reigneth : whiche toke his argument of the diuine poete
Homere.® Also Strabo hym selfe, (as he saith,) laboured a
great part of Africa and Egypte, where undoubtedly be many
thinges to be maruailed at. Solinus* writeth almost in like
forme, and is more brefe, and hath moche more varietie of

* Mr. George Long, in his article on Strabo in Smith’s Dict. of Biog., says :
‘Strabo’s work has a particular value to us of the present day, owing to his
method of handling the subject ; he has preserved a great number of historical
facts, for which we have no other evidence than his work. It forms a striking
contrast with the geography of Ptolemzus and the dry list of names, occasionally
relieved by something added to them in the geographical portion of the Matural
History of Plinius. It is in short a book intended for reading, and it may be
read ; a kind of historical geography.’ Miiller says, ‘ His object was to give an in-
structive and readable account of the known world, considered from the point of
view taken up by a Greek man of letters. Geography is interesting to him from
its connexion with history and literature ; places deserve detailed description be-
cause they are mentioned in poems, or have been rendered illustrious by the great
men, whom they have produced, or the great events of which they have been the
scene. To Strabo the world is nothing except as the dwelling-place of the human
family.’—Hist. of Gr. Lit. vol. tii. p. 135. The first edition of Strabo was by
Aldus at Venice, 1516; but a Latin translation appeared at Rome, 1469, and
was reprinted 1473, more than forty years before the Greek text was published.

> Strabo himself says: Kal πρῶτον ὅτι ὀρθῶς ὑπειλήφαμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς καὶ of πρὸ
ἡμῶν, ὧν ἐστι καὶ Ἵππαρχος, ἀρχηγέτην εἶναι τῆς γεωγραφικῆς ἐμπειρίας “Ὅμηρον.
Lib. i. cap. I. § 2.

° Τῶν τε Ῥωμαίων καὶ els τὴν εὐδαίμονα ᾿Αραβίαν ἐμβαλόντων μετὰ στρατιᾶς
νεωστί, ἧς ἡγεῖτο ἀνὴρ φίλος ἡμῖν καὶ ἑταῖρος Αἴλιος Γάλλος, καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς
᾿Αλεξανδρ-ίας ἐμπόρων στόλ us ἤδη πλεόντων διὰ τοῦ Νείλου καὶ τοῦ ᾿Αραβίου κόλπου
μέχρι τῆς ᾿1εδικῆς, πολὺ μᾶλλον, καὶ ταῦτα ἔγνωσται τοῖς νῦν ἢ τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν. “Ore
γοῦν Γάλλος ἐπῆρχε τῆς Αἰγύπτου, συνόντες αὐτῷ καὶ συναναβάντες μέχρι Συήνης καὶ
τῶν Αἰθιοπικῶν ὅρων ἱστοροῦμεν, ὅτι καὶ ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι νῆες πλέοιεν ex Μυὸς ὅρμου
πρὸς τὴν Ἰνδικήν, πρότερον ἐπὶ τῶν Πτολεμαϊκῶν βασιλέων ὀλίγων παντάπασι θαρρούν-
των πλεῖν καὶ τὸν Ἰνδικὸν ἐμπορεύεσθαι psprov.—Lib. ii. cap. 5, § 12.

ἃ “Solinus was the author of a geographical compendium containing a brief
sketch of the world as known to the ancients. The arrangement, materials, and
frequently the very words are derived almost exclusively from the Matural History
of Pliny. His work was called Polyhistor, and was much studied in the middle
ages, and consequently many editions appeared in the infancy of the typographical
art. The most notable edition is that of Salmasius, published at Utrecht, 1629,
prefixed to his Pliniane Exercitationes, which, according to Hallam, is a mass
of learning on the geography and natural history of Pliny in more than 900 pages
following the text of the Polyhistor of Solinus, who is a mere compiler from Pliny,
and contains nothing from any other source.’—Zit, of Europe, vol. ii. p. 283.

THE GOVERNOUR. 81

thinges and maters, and is therfore maruailous delectable :
yet Mela is moche shorter, and his stile, (by reason that it is
of a more antiquitie,) is also more clene and facile.* Wherfore
he, or Dionisius,” shall be sufficient.

Cosmographie beinge substancially perceiued, it is than
tyme to induce a childe to the redinge of histories: pj.pi25

but fyrst to set hym in a feruent courage, the mayster ¢¢d the

: Ρ ἣ fourme in
in the mooste pleasant and elegant wise expressinge *-eiyng of

what incomparable delectation, utilitie, and commo- “«.

dite, shal happen to emperours, kinges, princis, and all other
gentil men by reding of histories: shewinge to hym that
Demetrius Phalareus,° a man of excellent wisedome and

* Pomponius Mela was the first Roman author who composed ἃ formal treatise
upon geography. From internal evidence it is highly probable that he lived in
the reign of the Emperor Claudius. Professor Ramsay says: ‘As might be ex-
pected in a tract which consists chiefly of proper names, the text is often exces-
sively and hopelessly corrupt ; dut the style ts simple, unaffected, and perspicuous ;
the Latinity is pure; all the best authorities accessible at that period, especially
Eratosthenes, appear to have been carefully consulted ; and although everything
is compressed within the narrowest limits, we find the monotony of the catalogue
occasionally diversified by animated and pleasing pictures.’ The editio princeps
of Mela appeared at Milan, 1471, and numerous editions were published before
the end of the fifteenth century. Hermolaus Barbarus, a Venetian, who died in
1493, ‘boasted that he had corrected more than three hundred passages in the very
brief geography of Pomponius Mela.’—Lzt. of Europe, vol. i. p.222.

> Dionysius of Halicarnassus came to Kome B.C. 29, and remained there for
twenty-two years. His work, called Roman Archeology, which was published
B.C. 7, was intended to take the place of all other works as an introduction to
Polybius, and wa; carried down from the earliest time to B.c. 264, when Polybius
really begins. Niebuhr says in his Lectures, ‘ Before Roman history was treated
critically Dionysius was neglected, and his work was despised as a tissue of follies.’
But from the manner in which he is mentioned in the text it would certainly appear
that at any rate Sir Thomas Elyot entertained a proper respect for the great his-
torian.

¢ Demetrius the Phalerian, the disciple of Theophrastus and the friend and
fellow-pupil of Menander, had governed Athens as the head of the Macedonian
party from B.C. 317 to B.C. 307. Whenhis power was overthrown, he took
refuge at the court of Ptolemy Soter, over whom he acquired great influence,
insomuch that he engaged the king in the formal patronage of literature, and was
even indulged with the favourite occupation of a philosopher, the formation or re-
vision of a code of laws. We are told that he wrote on history and politics, on
the poets and on rhetoric, publishing also some of his own speeches ; and that

G

82 THE GOVERNOUR.

lerninge, and whiche in Athenes had ben longe exercised in
the publike weale, exhorted Ptholomee, kyng of Egipt, chiefly
aboue all other studyes, to haunte and embrace histories, and
suche other bokes, wherin were contayned preceptes made to
kynges and princes: sayng that in them he shulde rede those
thinges whiche no man durst reporte unto his persone.* Also
Cicero, father of the latin eloquence,” calleth an historie the
witnesse of tymes, maistres of life, the lyfe of remembrance, of
trouthe the lyght, and messager of antiquite.*

Moreouer, the swete Isocrates exhorteth the kynge Nicocles,
whom he instructeth, to leaue behynde him statues and images,
that shall represent rather the figure and similitude of his
mynde, than the features of his body, signifienge therbye the
remembraunce of his actes writen in histories.4

By semblable aduertisementes shall a noble harte be
trayned.to delite in histories. And than, accordynge to the
Titus counsayle of Quintilian,® it is best that he begynne
Liuius. with Titus Liuius, nat onely for his elegancie of
writinge, whiche floweth in him like a fountaine of swete

besides this he prepared collections of AZsop’s Fadles. He made, therefore, a first
beginning of the grammatical and critical literature of his adopted country.—//is¢.
of Gr. Lit. vol. ii. p. 468.

® This story is narrated by Plutarch as follows: Δημήτριος 6 Φαληρεὺς TroXe-
μαίῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ παρήνει τὰ περὶ βασιλείας καὶ ἡγεμονίας βίβλια κτᾶσθαι Kal ἀναγινώ-
σκειν" ἃ γὰρ οἱ φίλοι τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν οὗ θαῤῥοῦσι παραινεῖν, ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις
véeyparra.—-Reg. et Imp. Apophtheg. 189, D. ed. Didot p. 227.

» Pliny, eulogising Cicero, says: ‘Salve primus omnium parens patric ap-
pellate, primus in toga triumphum linguzeque lauream merite, et facundize Latiarum-
que literarum parens.’—JVat. Hist. lib, vii. cap. 31.

¢ ‘Historia vero testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita nae magistra vite,
nuntia vetustatis.’-—De Ovat. lib. ii. cap. 9.

ἃ Βούλου τὰς εἰκόνας τῆς ἀρετῆς ὑπόμνημα μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ σώματος καταλιπεῖν.
Ad Nicoclem, § 36, ed. Didot, 1846.

* Ego optimos quidem, et statim, et semper, sed tamen eorum candidissimum
quemque, et maxime expositum, velim, ut Livium ἃ pueris magis, quam Sallustium;
et hic historiz major est auctor, ad quem tamen intelligendum jam profectu opus
sit.—Jnstit. Orat. lib. ii. cap. 5, § 19. Niebuhr isof the same opinion, ‘ You cannot
study Livy too much,’ he says, ‘ both as scholars and as men who seek and love
that which is beautiful.’—Zectures on Rom. Hist. xvii. ed. 1870.

ΔΝ

THE GOVERNOUR. » 183

milke :* but also for as moche as by redynge that autor he
maye knowe howe the mooste noble citie of Rome, of a small
and poure begynnynge, by prowes and vertue, litell and litell
came to the empire and dominion of all the worlde.” -

Also in that citye he maye beholde the fourme of a publike
weale : whiche, if the insolencie and pryde of Tarquine had
nat excluded kynges out of the citie, it had ben the most
noble and perfect of all other.°

@ Quintilian’s phrase is, ‘ Livii lactea ubertas.’—Jms¢. Orat. lib, x. cap. 1
32.

: >» A modern writer says: ‘Rome was now the mistress of the world: her
struggles with foreign nations had been-rewarded with universal dominion ; so
that when the Roman empire was spoken of, no title less comprehensive than ‘‘ the
world” (ordé:) would satisfy the national vanity. The horrors of civil war had
ceased, and were succeeded by an amnesty of its bitter feuds and bloody animosi-
ties. Liberty, indeed, had perished, but the people were no longer fit for the en-
joyment of it ; and it was exchanged for a mild and paternal rule, under which all
the refinements of civilization were encouraged and its subjects could enjoy undis-
turbed the blessings of peace and security. Rome, therefore, had rest and breath-
ing-time to look back into the past—to trace the successive steps by which that
marvellous edifice, the Roman empire, had been constructed. She could do this,
too, with perfect self-complacency, for there was no symptom of decay to check
her exultation, or to mar the glories which she was contemplating. Livy the
good, the affectionate, the romantic, was precisely the popular historian for such
times as these.’—Browne, ist. of Rom. Class. Lit. p. 397.

¢ ¢Sallust, who in the introduction of his lost history of the period subsequent
to the death of Sulla gave, like Thucydides, a brief survey of the moral and poli-
tical history of his nation, which is preserved in St. Augustin, says that Rome
was ruled fairly and justly only so long as there was a fear of Tarquinius ; but that
as soon as this fear was removed, the Zatres indulged in every kind of tyranny and
arrogance, and kept the A/edes in servile submission by the severity of the law of
debt. In like manner Livy states that the A/edes who, down to the destruction of
of the Tarquins, had been courted with the greatest care, were immediately after-
wards oppressed ; that until then the salt which belonged to the pudblicum had been
sold at a low price, that tolls had been abolished, and that the king’s domain had
been distributed among the plebeians ; in short, the φιλάνθρωπα δίκαια of Servius
Tullius had been restored . . . . As long as Tarquinius, who was personally a
great man, lived, the patricians hesitated to go to extremes in their innovations,
though they insulted the plebeians and deprived them.of the imperta ; they may
even have expelled them from the senate, and they certainly did not fill up with
plebeians those places which became vacant by death. But the real oppression did

not begin till the fear of an enemy from without was removed.’—Niebuhr, Lectures
on Rom. Hist. xxvi. ed. 1870.

,

G2

84 THE GOVERNOUR.

Xenophon, beynge bothe a philosopher * and an excellent
capitayne,” so inuented and ordred his warke named
Pedia Cyri, whiche may be interpreted the Childe-
hode or discipline of Cyrus, that he leaueth to the reders
therof an incomparable swetenes and example of lyuynge,
specially for the conductynge and well ordring of hostes or
armyes.© And therfore the noble Scipio, who was called
Affricanus, as well in peace as in warre was neuer seene without

this boke of Xenophon.*
With hym maye be ioyned Quintus Curtius,° who writeth

Xenophon,

* Col. Mure says: ‘In the allusions to Xenophon’s literary. character, he is
perhaps as frequently honoured with the title of ““ Philosopher” as with that of
‘* Historian.” His pretensions to the former are however feeble, and have been
omitted in our catalogue of his sources of celebrity. He is not the author of any
properly philosophical work ; and the doctrines interspersed in his miscellaneous
writings are little remarkable for novelty or depth. His philosophy, if such it can
be called, is like his style, simple and familiar ; consisting in a pleasing mode of
shaping popular views, rather than attempts at original theory.’—Zang. and Lit.
of Greece, vol. ν. p. 260,

» The author last quoted says: ‘Asa soldier he deservedly enjoys a brilliant
reputation, in the peculiar kind of warfare in which he is known to have been
actively engaged. But it was one affording little opportunity for the highest
exercise of strategic talent. His campaigns, however ably conducted, were in so
far as known to fame, fought against barbarous enemies. There is no record of
his having ever held the responsible command of a large body of regular troops
against equally well trained and appointed adversaries.’—/0id. p. 250.

¢ «The Cyropzedia has been commonly assigned by modern critics, to the branch
of composition entitled in our own day Historical romance ; and this is perhaps
as near a definition of its character as our own stock of such technical terms sup-
plies. Of romance, indeed, in the familiar sense, the work contains but little.
The main narrative is devoted to affairs of state, civil and military. The illustra-
tive materials, which engross the greater part of the text, consist of disquisitions
on the art of war, on political government, and social economy. . . . The main
scope of the work is to present the reader with the author’s idea of a perfect sys-
tem of monarchical government. This system he has figured as created or ma-
tured by a no less perfect monarch and military commander ; with whose life and
influence it is so closely identified that as it grew with his youth and manhood,
with his death it begins to decay.’—Jdid. p. 378.

ἃ Sir Thomas Elyoi has slightly improved upon Cicero’s statement, which is
merely ‘Itaque semper Africanus Socraticum Xenophontem in manibus habebat.’

—Tusc. Quest. lib. ii. cap. 26.
© Modern scholars cannot agree as to the time when Quintus Curtius. Rufus

THE GOVERNOUR. — 85

the life of kyng Alexander elegantly and swetely. In whom
may be founden the figure of an excellent prince, as he that
incomparably excelled al other kinges and emperours in
wysedome, hardynes, strength, policie, agilite, valiaunt cou-
rage, nobilitie, liberalitie and curtaisie: where in he was a
spectakle or marke for all princes to loke on.* Contrarye
wise whan he was ones vainquisshed with voluptie and pride
his tiranny and beastly crueltie abhorreth all reders.» The
comparison of the vertues of these two noble princes, equally
described by two. excellent writars, well expressed, shall pro-
uoke a gentil courage to contende to folowe their vertues.
Julius Cesar and Salust* for their compendious writynge

wrote his work. From the internal evidence Gibbon came to the conclusion that
it must have been in the reign of the emperor Gordian. Niebuhr would prefer
the reign of Aurelian ‘if it were possible that a person could at that time have
written such elegant Latin as that of Curtius ; but this is impossible.’ And he
decides eventually on the evidence afforded by the reference to Tyre (lib. iv. 4)
in favour of the time of Septimius Severus and Caracalla.—Lectures on Rom.
Hist. cxl. Professor Browne thinks upon the whole it is most probable that he
lived towards the close of the first century.

@ Arrian has summed up his character as follows: Τό τε σῶμα κάλλιστος καὶ
φιλοπονώτατος“ καὶ ὀξύτατος Thy γνώμην γενόμενος, καὶ ἀνδρειότατος, καὶ φιλοτιμότατος
καὶ φιλοκινδυνότατος καὶ τοῦ θείου ἐπιμελέστατος " ἡδονῶν δὲ τῶν μὲν τοῦ σώματος
ἐγκρατέστατος, τῶν δὲ τῆς γνώμης ἐπαίνου μόνου ἀπληστότατος" ξυνιδεῖν δὲ τὸ δέον
ἔτι ἐν τῷ ἀφανεῖ ὃν δεινότατος, καὶ ek τῶν φαινομένων τὸ εἰκὸς ξυμβαλεῖν ἐπιτυχέστα-
τος, καὶ τάξαι στρατιὰν καὶ ὁπλίσαι τε καὶ κοσμῆσαι δαημονέστατος᾽' καὶ τὸν θυμὸν
τοῖς στρατιώταις ἐπᾶραι καὶ ἐλπίδων ἀγαθῶν ἐμπλῆσαι καὶ τὸ “δεῖμα ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις
τῷ ἀδεεῖ τῷ αὑτοῦ ἀφανίσαι, ξύμπαντα ταῦτα γενναιότατος. Καὶ οὖν καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῷ
ἀφανεῖ πρᾶξαι, ξὺν μεγίστῳ θάρσει ἔπραξεν" ὅσα τε φθάσας ὑφαρπάσαι τῶν πολεμίων,
πρὶν καὶ δεῖσαί τινα αὐτὰ ὡς ἐσόμενα, προλάβειν δεινότατος" καὶ τὰ μὲν ξυντεθέντα ἣ
ὁμολογηθέντα φυλάξαι βεβαιότατος, πρὸς δὲ τῶν ἐξαπατώντων μὴ ἁλῶναι ἀσφαλεστα-
τος χρημάτων δὲ ἐς μὲν ἡδονὰς τὰς αὑτοῦ φειδωλότατος, ἐς δέ εὐποιίαν τῶν πέλας
apOovdraros.—Lib. vii. cap. 28.

> This is evidently a paraphrase of the passage in Curtius: ‘Sed ut primum
instantibus curis laxatus est animus, militarium rerum quam quietis otiique patien-
tior ; excepere eum voluptates: et quem arma’ Persarum non fregerant, vitia
vicerunt ; intempestiva convivia, et perpotandi pervigilandique insana dulcedo,
ludique, et greges pellicum, omnia in externum lapsa sunt morem: quem zmulatus
quasi potiorem suo, ita popularium animos oculosque pariter offendit, ut a pleris-
que amicorum pro hoste haberetur.’—Lib. vi. cap. 2.

¢ One of the most distinguished scholars of the present day says, ‘ Czesar’s busi-
ness was the narrative of his campaigns, and he has omitted nearly everything

86 THE GOVERNOUR.

to the understandynge wherof is required an exact and
perfect iugement, and also for the exquisite ordre of bataile
and continuinge of the historie without any varietie, wherby
the payne of studie shulde be alleuiate, they two wolde be
reserued untyll he that shall rede them shall se some’ experi-
ence in semblable matters. And than shal he finde in them
suche pleasure and commodite as therwith a noble and
gentyl harte ought to be satisfied. For in them both it shall
seme to a man that he is present and hereth the counsayles
and exhortations of capitaines, whiche be called Conctones,”

which did not belong to his purpose.’—Long’s Decline of the Roman Republic, vol.
v. p. 475. Niebuhr says: ‘ With regard to his (Czesar’s) campaigns in Gaul, I
have only to refer you to his own commentaries on the Gallic war, with the sup-
plement of A. Hirtius, a work which every scholar must have read. It is written
with such conciseness and brevity that if I attempted to abridge it, as I
should be obliged to do if I were to give an account of those campaigns, nothing
would be left but a miniature outline. I strongly advise you to read Cesar’s
account of his Gallic wars as often as you can, for the oftener you read it the more
will you recognise the hand of a great master.’—Zet. R. H. cvii. ed. 1870.
Professor Browne styles the commentaries ‘the materials for history ; notes jotted
down for future historians.’— ist, of Rom. Class. Lit. p. 379. With regard to
Sallust, Niebuhr says, ‘ The description which Sallust has given of the war (against
Jugurtha) is one of the best specimens of ancient literature in either language, and
I am almost inclined to prefer it to his Catiline. But both works are peculiar
phenomena in Roman literature: they are what we call monographies, which are
otherwise unknown among the Romans, except, perhaps, Czlius Antipater’s
history of the Hannibalian war, of which, however, we know nothing; the
memoirs of Fannius were of quite a different nature. The books of Sallust are
not written in the form of annals, the character of which he evidently tries to
avoid ; his intention was to write history in a compact and plastic manner. The
works of Sallust are of such a kind that the more we read them the more do we
find to admire in them ; they are true models of excellent historical composition.’
—-Lect. Rom. Hist. xcii. ed. 1870.

* Mr. Long calls the Commentaries ‘a book dull enough to boys, if masters will
not sufficiently explain it by making their pupils well acquainted with the geography
of the country, and tiresome to all readers who will not take the labour necessary
to understand it. Among the great number of illustrious scholars whose names
are known, I have found few who have carefully studied the first of Roman
writers.” He also says the books on the Civil War ‘are not a fit subject for boys
to work at.’—Zhe Decline of the Roman Republic, vol. v. p. 476, and note.
Quintilian’s opinion upon this point, in the case of Sallust, has already been
quoted ante p. 82, note 5. : :

» Rather-‘harangues’ or ‘speeches’; thus Quintilian comparing Thucydides

THE GOVERNOUR. 87

and that he seeth the ordre of hostes whan they be em-
batayled, the fiers assaultes and encountringes of bothe armies,
the furiouse rage of that monstre called warre. And he shall
wene that he hereth the terrible dintes of sondry weapons
and ordinaunce of bataile, the conducte and policies of wise
and expert capitaines, specially in the commentaries of Julius
Cesar, whiche he made of his exploiture* in Fraunce” and
Brytayne,° and other countraies nowe rekned amonge the
prouinces of Germany : ὦ whiche boke is studiously to be radde

with Herodotus says,. ‘Ille concionibus hic sermonibus melior.’—JZstét. Orat. lib.
x. cap. I, 873. And the same writer talks of ‘concio contra Catilinam.’—J/did.
lib. v. cap 11, 842. There are a few short addresses of Czsar to his men in the
Commentaries.

* See the glossary.

> ‘The old divisions of France before the great revolution of 1789 corresponded
in some degree to the divisions of the country in the time of Cesar, and the names
of the people are still retained, with little alteration, in the names of the chief
towns or the names of the ante-revolutionary divisions of France. In the country
of the Remi, between the Marne and the Aisne, there is the town of Rheims. In
the territory of the Suessiones, between the Marne and the Aisne, there is
Soissons on the Aisne. ... The name of the Condrusi is preserved in the
country of Condroz or Condrost, in the Pays de Liege, and that of the Pzemani
in the Pays de Fammenne, of which country Durburg, Laroche on the Ourthe,
and Rochefort on the Homme are the chief towns. These are two signal in-
stances of the permanence of historical evidence.’—Long’s Decline of the Rom.
Rep. vol. iv. p. 46.

¢ Mr. Long’s ‘conclusion is that the extant authorities to the time of Augustus
show that the Greeks and Romans knew very little about Britannia ; that Pytheas,
if he did navigate the Atlantic, as we can hardly doubt, either did not go so far
north as some have supposed, or he was a very careless observer, and reported
many things from hearsay ; that Czesar did not know much about Britannia, and ©
has told us even less than he could have done; but that the island had been
visited by traders from the French coast, and probably from the Iberian peninsula,
for centuries before the Christian era.’—/ézd. vol, iv. p. £97.

4 Pope Pius II., better known as a writer by the name of Aineas Sylvius, ina
work published in 1515, contrasts the Germany of his own day with the country of
the Germanic tribes known to the Romans in the following manner: ‘Compare-
mus: ergo cum veteri novam (Germaniam) et primum de amplitudine dicamus.
Danubius ac Rhenus, qui quondam Germaniz limites clausere, nunc per medios
Germanorum dilabuntur agros. Belgica regio, quze Gallize prius portio tertia fuit,
nunc majori ex parte Germaniz cessit lingua et moribus Theutonica. Helvetii
quoque, gens antea Gallica, in Germanos transivere. Recia tota et ipsum Noricum
et quicquid Vindelici nominis inter Alpes Italas ac Danubium fuit, ad Germanos

8g THE GOVERNOUR.

of the princes of this realme of Englande and their coun-
sailors ;* considering that therof maye be taken necessary in-
structions concernynge the warres agayne Irisshe men” or
Scottes,° who be of the same rudenes and wilde disposition

deficit. Ita ut etiam Alpes ipsas ccelo vicinas et perpetua nive rigentes nomen
Germanicum penetrans in Italia quoque sedes posuerit, Brixione, Merane, Bubian-
oque in valle Athesis occupato. Austria que apud priscos Pannonici juris fuit, et
Norici portio in Germanicum nomen conversa est. Styria quam veteres Valeriam
vocavere Theutonicum morem atque imperium subiit. Carni quoque, quos modo
Carinthianos Carniolosque nominant, idem fecere ita ut fontes Dravi Savique
nominatorum fluminum Theutonici juris existant. Neque Alpes ulle inter
Italiam atque Germaniam sunt, quarum summa cacumina non possideant Theu-
tonici, quiad Orientem non modo Albim sed Oderam ac Viscellam transmiserunt,
et in ipsa quidem occidentali Sarmacia Ulmerigorum et Gepidarum agros invasere :
nam et Austria trans Danubium, et Moravia, et quidquid Slessiz ultra Oderam
possident Sarmatici quondam fuit soli. Quin et in Oceano et Baltheo sinfi medias
insulas sui juris fecere Theutones.’—Germania, cap. xxxii. ed. 1515.

* ©Czesar’s Commentaries are a manual for a general, the best that was ever
written. Many commanders have had their favourite books. Scipio Africanus the
Younger was always reading Xenophon. Napoleon, in his captivity at St. Helena,
dictated to Marchand his remarks on Czesar’s Commentaries. ‘* The late Marshal
Strozzi,’”’ says Montaigne, ‘‘ who took Ceesar for his model, without doubt made the
best choice ; for, in truth, Czesar’s book ought to be the manual of every general,
as it is the true and sovereign example of the military art : and God knows besides
with what grace and with what beauty he has set off this rich material, with a
manner of expression so pure, so delicate, and so perfect, that to my taste there
are no writings in the world which can be compared with his in this respect.” ’—
Long’s Decline of the Roman Republic, vol. v. p. 473.

» Mr. Froude, after describing ‘the English pale’ at this period, says: ‘ This
narrow strip alone, some fifty miles long and twenty broad, was in any sense
English. Beyond the borders the common law of England was of no authority ; the
king’s writ was but a strip of parchment ; and the country was parcelled among a
multitude of independent chiefs who acknowledged no sovereignty but that of
strength, and levied tribute on the inhabitants of the pale as a reward for a nominal
protection of their rights, and as a compensation for abstaining from the plunder of
their farms. Their swords were their sceptres, their codes of right the Brehon
traditions—a convenient system which was called law, but which in practice was a
happy contrivance for the composition of felonies.’—/ist. of Eng. vol. ii. p. 247.

¢ Mr. Fraser Tytler tells us what the state of Scotland was at the same period.
_*James directed his attention to the state of the borders, where the disorders inci-
dent to a minority had increased to a degree which threatened the total disruption
of these districts. Such excesses were mainly to be attributed to Angus, the late
Warden of the Marches, who had secured the friendship of the border chiefs by
overlooking their offences, whilst he had bound them to his interests by those

oo a eo

ὃν

THE GOVERNOUR. 89

that the Suises* and Britons” were in the time of Cesar.
Semblable utilitie shal be founden in the historie of Titus Li-
uius, in his thirde Decades, where he writeth of the batayles
that the Romanes had with Annibal and the Charthaginensis.°

feudal covenants named ‘‘ bands of manrent,” which formed one of the darkest’
features of the times, compelling the parties to defend each other against the
effects of their mutual transgressions. The task, therefore, of introducing order
and respect for legal restraints amongst the fierce inhabitants of the marches was
one of extreme difficulty. The principal thieves were the border barons themselves,
some of whom maintained a feudal state almost royal; whilst their castles, often
impregnable from the strength of their natural and artificial defences, defied every
attempt to reduce or to storm them.’—/7ist. of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 205, ed. 1845.

* Presumably the Helvetii are thus designated. Merivale, however, says:
‘The account which was commonly given of this people and their migration is
that they were a pastoral tribe, abounding in wealth, and of a peaceful disposi-
tion ; it was the example of the Cimbri and Teutones with whom they came in
contact that corrupted their natural simplicity, and suggested visions of conquest
and-rapine. Strabo, vii. 2, following Posidonius. But Czesar says they were the
bravest of the Gauls, from their constant warfare with the Germans on their fron-
tier.’— ist, of Rome, vol. i. p. 279, note.

> ¢The campaigns of Czesar in Belgium could not fail to make him acquainted
with the existence and character of the inhabitants of the great island which lay
within sight of its coasts. It was indeed from their allies on the opposite shore
that his enemies had drawn no inconsiderable resources. Questioned as to the
relations subsisting between themselves and the natives of Britain, they asserted
that many of their own race had emigrated from Gaul during the preceding cen-
tury, and established themselves beyond the white cliffs just visible in the horizon.
They spoke of a population believed by them to be aboriginal upon whom they
had intruded themselves, and in whose seats they had gradually fixed their abodes.
This primitive people they described as peculiarly rude and barbarous in their
social habits. They were almost destitute of clothing, and took a grotesque
pleasure in painting or tattooing their bodies with blue woad. They admitted a
regulated community of women. They lived almost entirely on milk and flesh ;
the toil or skill required even for fishing was distasteful to them; and dwelling
apart or congregating in a few hovels with a wooden stockade round them, and
screened by forests, mountains, or morasses, they possessed nothing which could
possess the name of a city.’—/ézd. vol. i. pp. 458, 459.

The wretched state of Britain at the time of the Roman invasion is thus
commented on by Plutarch. Czesar is said κακῶσαι τοὺς πυλεμίους μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς ἰδίους
ὠφελῆσαι, οὐδὲν yap ὅ τι καὶ λαβεῖν ἦν ἄξιον am’ ἀνθρώπων κακοβίων καὶ πενήτων.---
(σαν, 23.

¢ Niebuhr says: ‘In the narrative of Livy we can distinguish the different
sources from which he derived his information. The account of the first period of
the war, and especially the rhetorical description of the siege of Saguntum, are

90 THE GOVERNOUR.

Also there be dyuers orations, as well in all the bokes
Cornelius Of the saide autors as in the historie of Cornelius
Tacitus. Tacitus, whiche be very delectable, and for coun-
sayles very expedient to be had in memorie. And in good
faythe I haue often thought that the consultations and ora-
tions wryten by Tacitus do importe a maiestie with a com-
pendious eloquence therin contained.*

In the lerning of these autors a yonge gentilman shal be
taught to note and marke, nat only the ordre and elegancie in
declaration of the historie, but also the occasion of the warres,
the counsailes and preparations on either part, the estimation

unquestionably derived from Czelius Antipater ; and if his history of the remaining
period of the war were not based on better authorities, the whole of his third
decade would be worth nothing. But in some parts Livy follows Polybius very
carefully ; in other parts of this decade, as for instance at the end of a year when
he gives a brief summary of the events which occurred during the year, he followed
the pontifical annals or some annalist. He evidently wrote this decade with great
pleasure, and some portions of it are among the most beautiful things that have
ever been written. The points in which he is deficient are a knowledge of facts,
experience, an intimate acquaintance with the affairs of real life—he does not step
beyond the walls of the school—and a control over his subject. He worked with
great ease, and repeated what others had said before him, without toiling and
moiling. Wherever he differs from Polybius he deserves no credit at all; and
however beautifully his history of the war is written, still it is evident that he could
not form a vivid conception of anything. His description of the battle of Canne,
for instance, is untrue and impossible, whereas that of Polybius is so excellent that
it enables the reader to see the locality and to draw a map of it ; and the better
the locality is known the clearer his description becomes.’—Zect. on Rom. Hist.
Ixxi. ed. 1870, - Professor Browne says: ‘ The third (decade) contains the most
beautiful and elaborate passages of the whole work.’—/ist. of Rom. Class. Lit.
Ρ. 401.

* It may be observed that a modern scholar uses almost precisely similar lan-
guage. ‘It would have been impossible to have satisfied a people whose taste had
become more than ever rhetorical,, without the introduction of orations. Those of
Tacitus are perfect specimens of art;. and probably, with the exception of
Galgacus, far more true than those of other Roman historians. Still he made use
of them, not only to embody traditional acccounts of what had really been said on
each occasion, but to illustrate his own views of the character of the speaker, and
to convey his own political opinions. Full of sagacious observation and descriptive
power, Tacitus engages the most serious attention of the reader by the gravity of

his condensed and comprehensive style, as he does by the wisdom and dignity of his

reflections,’—ist. of Rom. Class. Lit. p. 495.

- THE GOVERNOUR. ΟἹ

of the capitaines, the maner and fourme of theyr gouernance,
the continuance of the bataile, the fortune and successe of the
holle affaires. Semblably out of the warres in other dayly
affaires, the astate of the publike weale, if hit be prosperous or
in decaye, what is the very occasyon of the one or of the other,
the forme and maner of the gouernance therof, the good and
euyll qualities of them that be rulers, the commodites and
good sequele of vertue, the discommodies and euyll conclusion
of vicious licence.

Surely if a noble man do thus seriously and diligently
rede histories, I dare affirme there is no studie or science for
him of equal commoditie and pleasure, hauynge regarde to
euery tyme and age.

By the time that the childe do com to xvii yeres of age,
to the intent his courage be bridled with reason, hit were
nedefull to rede unto hym some warkes of philoso- 5,1,
phie; specially that parte that may enforme him philoso-
unto vertuous maners, whiche parte of philosophie 74%
is called morall.* | Wherfore there wolde be radde to hym,

* This was the course pursued in the Roman system of education. ‘ At seven-
teen, or when the fated struggle begins between the moral principles and the
instincts of appetite—at the commencement, such as morality and religion have
represented it, of the great battle of life between vice and virtue—the youth was
transferred to the Academy of the Philosopher to learn the mysteries of the Good,
the Fair and the Honourable. While he still continued to exercise himself daily
in rhetorical studies and practice, he explored the dark by-ways of morals and
metaphysics under accomplished teachers, and traversed the whole circuit of
Grecian speculation before he determined in which sect definitively to enrol him-
self.’—Merivale’s Hist. of Rome, vol. vi. p. 227. Montaigne thought philosophy
a fit subject for boys : ‘Puisque la philosophie est celle qui nous instruit ἃ vivre,
et que l’enfance y a sa legon comme les aultres aages, pourquoy ne la luy commu-
nique lon?

-

Udum et molle lutum est ; nunc nunc properandus et acri
Fingendus sine fine rota.

On nous apprend 4 vivre quand la vie est passee. Cent escholiers ont prins la
verole avant que d’estre arrivez a leur legon d’Aristote De la temperance. Cicero
disoit que quand il vivroit la vie de deux hommes, il ne prendroit pas le loisir
d’estudier les poétes lyriques; et ie treuve ces ergotistes plus tristement encores
inutiles. Nostre enfant est bien plus pressé ; il ne doibt au paidagogisme que les

92 THE GOVERNOUR.

for an introduction, two the fyrste bokes of the warke of.
Aristotell, called 7hice, wherin is contained the definitions
and propre significations of euery vertue; and that to be
lerned in greke ; for the translations that we yet haue be but a
rude and grosse shadowe of the eloquence and wisedome of
Tullies Aristotell. * Forthe with wolde folowe the warke of
Qfices. Cicero, called in Latin De officits, wherunto yet is

premiers quinze ou seize ans de sa vie; le demourant est deu ἃ l’action. Em-
ployons un temps si court aux instructions necessaires. Ce sont abus; ostez
toutes subtilitez espineuses de la dialectique dequoy nostre vie ne se peult amender ;

_ prenez les simples discours de la philosophie, sgachez les choisir et traicter ἃ

eee

point: ils sont plus aysez ἃ concevoir qu’un conte de Boccace; un enfant en est
capable au partir de la nourrice, beaucoup mieulx que d’apprendre ἃ lire ou escrire.
La philosophie a des discours pour la naissance des hommes comme pour la
decrepitude.’—Zssazs, tom. i. p. 225, ed. 1854.

* Nor is this to be wondered at, if we accept M. Bréchillet-Jourdain’s account
of the method adopted by the translators of Aristotle in the preceding centuries.
‘Le chrétien avide de science, se rendait ἃ Toléde, s’attachait ἃ un juif ou ἃ un
Sarasin converti, puisait dans sa fréquentation quelque connaisance de la langue
maure ; quand il voulait traduire un livre, ce maitre le lui expliquait en idiome
vulgaire, c’est-a-dire ex espagnol, et il mettait cette traduction verbale en Jatin.’
Speaking of the translations made in the 11th century, M. Jourdain says: ‘Les

versions portent le caractére d’un Age oti la langue latine ne s’écrivait plus avec la

méme élégance, ot le langage d’Aristote était imparfaitement connu. Ce sont
de pures versions littérales ot le mot latin couvre le mot grec, de méme que les
pieces dé l’échiquier s’appliquent sur les cases. L’expression originale est rare-
ment rendu par celle qui lui correspond; la contexture de la phrase est ‘grecque
beaucoup plus que latine. Enfin, la plupart des termes techniques sont transcrits
et non traduits quoiqu’ils eussent pu I’étre avec justesse.’—Xecherches sur les tra-
ductions d@ Aristote, p. 217, ed. 1843. Ludovicus Vives, tutor to Charles the Fifth,
and at one time preceptor to the Princess Mary, daughter of Henry the Eighth,
complains bitterly in his treatise, De Causis corruptarum Artium, of the impure
channels through which the knowledge of Aristotle was filtered into Europe, viz.,
the commentaries of Averroes. ‘Tales sunt illius libri Greeci quidem ut ab eo
sunt perscripti, nam Latinos ita legimus, ut senigmata audire te credas, non
planum sermonem, atque explicatum, qualem inter se homines consueverunt usur-
pare. Dicet'aliquis grave incommodum, sed ideo tolerabile, quod adjuvamur bonis
interpretibus ac explicatoribus ex Arabia usque accitis. Quibus tandem? Versione
Arabica et commentariis Abenrois. . . . nomen est commentatoris nactus homo,
qui, in Aristotele enarrando, nihil minus explicat quam eum ipsum, quem suscepit
declarandum. Itaque videas eum pessimé philosophos omnes antiquos citare, ut
qui nullum unquam legerit, ignarus Greecitatis ac Latinitatis ; pro polo Ptolemzeum
ponit, pro Prothagora Pythagoram, pro Cratylo Democritum, libros Platonis —

THE GOVERNOUR. 93

no propre englisshe worde to be gyuen; but to prouide for it
some maner of exposition, it may be sayde in this fourme:
‘Of the dueties and maners appertaynynge to men.’* But
aboue all other, the_warkes of Plato wolde be most studi-
ously radde whan the iugement of a man is come to perfec-
tion, and_by the other studies is instructed in the fourme of
speakynge that philosophers used.° Lorde god, what incom-

titulis ridiculis inscribit et ita de iis loquitur ut vel czeco perspicuum sit literam
eum in illis legisse nullam.’—Ofera, tom. i. p. 410, ed. 1555. Vives, however,
made a strange blunder in assuming that the Arabic copies of Aristotle were derived
from Latin originals. ‘ Aristotelem vero quo modo legit? Non in sua origine
purum et integrum, non in lacunam Latinum derivatum, non enim potuit,
linguarum expers, sed de Latino in Arabicum transvasatum. In qua transfusione
ex Grecis bonis facta sunt Latina non bona, ut ille dicit, ex Latinis vero malis
Arabica pessima.’—U0z supra, p. 411. Ascham, in his Schoolmaster, bears testi-
mony to the same effect as the author. ‘To speak as I think, I never saw yet
any commentary upon Aristotle’s Logic, either in Greek or Latin, that ever I
liked ; because they be rather spent in declaring school- point rules, than in gathering
fit examples for use and utterance either by pen or talk.’—Works, vol. iii. p. 231,
ed. 1864.

* The De Officiis has been described by a modern scholar as ‘a treatise on
moral obligations, viewed not so much with reference to a metaphysical investiga-
tion of the basis on which they rest as to the practical business of the world, and
the intercourse of social and political life..—Smith’s Dict. of Biogr. sub voc.
From the same source we learn that the editio princeps of the De Officiis is one of
the oldest specimens of classical typography in existence, having been printed along
with the Paradoxa by Fust and Schoffer at Mayence in 1465, and again in 1466.
Another edition was published about the latter year at Cologne, by Ulric Zell.
Professor Browne says: ‘The study of Cicero’s philosophical works is invaluable,
in order to understand the minds of those who came after him. It must not be
forgotten that not only all Roman philosophy after his time, but great part of that
of the middle ages, was Greek philosophy filtered through Latin, and mainly
founded on that of Cicero.’—//ist. of Rom. Class. Lit. p. 357.

> Thus Quintilian assigns him the first place amongst the writers whose works
he recommends for perusal to a young orator. ‘ Philosophorum, ex quibus pluri-
mum se traxisse eloquentiz M. Tullius confitetur, quis dubitet Platonem esse
preecipuum sive acumine disserendi sive eloquendi facultate divina quadam et
Homericé ? Multum enim supra prosam orationem et quam pedestrem Greeci vocant,
surgit; ut mihi non hominis ingenio sed quodam delphico videatur oraculo
instinctus.’—J/mnstit. Orat. lib, x. cap. i. § 81. Roger Ascham entertained the
same opinion as our author with regard to postponing the time for reading Plato.
‘To compare Homer and Plato together, two wonders of nature and art for wit

94 THE GOVERNOUR.

μη swetnesse of wordes and mater shall he finde in the
saide warkes of Plato and Cicero ; wherin is ioyned grauitie
\with dilectation, excellent wyeedorie with diuine eloquence,
Ἷ \\absolute vertue with pleasure incredible, and euery place is
ἵ fo infarced* with profitable counsaile, ioyned with honestie,
| that those thre bokes be almoste sufficient to make a per-
jfecte and excellent gouernour. The prouerbes of Salomon
with the bokes of Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus be very
good lessons. All the historiall partes of the bible be righte
necessarye for to be radde of a noble man, after that he is
mature in yeres.” And the residue (with the newe testa-
ment) is to be reuerently touched, as a celestiall iewell or
relike, hauynge the chiefe interpretour of those bokes trewe
and constant faithe, and dredefully to sette handes theron,°

and eloquence, is,’ he tells us, ‘most pleasant and profitable for a man of ripe
judgment.’ — Works, vol. iii. p. 195, ed. 1864.

® See note ante p. 27.

> Mr. Seebohm tells us that ‘the Scriptures for some generations had been prac-
tically ignored at the Universities. . . . A degree in Arts did not, it would seem,
entitle the graduate to lecture upon the Bible. . . Before the days of Wiclif ‘the
Bible had been free, and Bishop Grosseteste could urge Oxford students to devote
their dest morning hours to Scripture lectures. But an unsuccessful revolution
ends in tightening the chains which it ought to have broken. During the fifteenth
century the Bible was wot free. And Scripture lectures, though still retaining a
nominal place in the academical course of theological study, were thrown into the
background by the much greater relative importance of the lectures on ‘the Sen-
tences.’—The Oxford Reformers, 2nd edn., pp. 2, 3.

¢ It is impossible in the face of this juxtaposition of Plato and the Scriptures
not to see how completely Mr. Seebohm’s remarks on this subject are justified.
‘It was of necessity,’ he says, ‘that the sudden reproduction of the Greek philoso-
phy and the works of the older Neo-Platonists in Italy should sooner or later
produce a new crisis in religion. A thousand years before, Christianity and Neo-
Platonism had been brought into the closest contact. Christianity was then in its
youth, comparatively pure, and in the struggle for mastery had easily prevailed.
Not that Neo-Platonism was indeed a mere phantom, which vanished and left no
trace behind it. By no means. Through the pseudo-Dionysian writings it not
only influenced profoundly the theology of medieval mystics, but also entered
largely even into the Scholastic system. It was thus absorbed into Christian
theology, though lost as a philosophy. Now, after the lapse of a thousand years,
the same battle had to be fought again. But with this terrible difference ; that now

Christianity, in the impurest form it had ever assumed—a grotesque perversion of .

THE GOVERNOUR. 95

remembrynge that Oza,* for puttyng his hande to the holy
shryne that was called Avcha federis, whan it was broughte by
kyng Dauid from the citie of Gaba,” though it were wauer-
ynge and in daunger to fall, yet was he stryken of god,
and fell deed immediately.°. It wolde nat be forgoten that
the lytell boke of the most excellent doctour Erasmus Rote-
rodamus, (whiche he wrate to Charles, nowe beynge emperour
and than prince of Castile’) whiche booke is intituled the
Institution of a christen prince,® wolde be as familyare
alwaye with gentilmen, at all tymes, and in euery age, as was |
Homere with the great king Alexander, or Xenophon with
Scipio ; for as all men may iuge that haue radde szyasmus

that warke of Erasmus, that there was neuer boke % “einstt-

written in latine that, insolytlea portion, contayned posites ᾿

of sentence, eloquence, and vertuous exhortation, a /7%¢.
more compendious abundaunce.* And here I make an ende

Christianity—had to cope with the purest and noblest of the Greek philosophies.
The leading minds of Italy were once more seeking for a reconciliation
between Plato and Christianity in the works of the pseudo-Dionysius, Macrobius,
Plotinus, Proclus, and other Neo-Platonists. There was the same anxious
endeavour as a thousand years earlier to fuse all philosophies into one. Plato and
Aristotle must be reconciled as well as Christianity and Plato. The old world
was becoming once more the possession of the new. It was felt to be the recovery
of a lost inheritance and everything of antiquity, whether Greek, Roman, Jewish,
Persian, or Arabian, was regarded asa treasure.’—7Z he Oxford Reformers, pp. 9, 10.

* Ze, Uzza.

» Ze. Gibeah. See 2 Sam. vi. 4. Considerable confusion has arisen from the
close similarity in the names of the three towns of Benjamin, viz., Geba, Gibeah, ©
and Gibeon, which are all represented in the Septuagint by the same word—
Γαβαά.

© See 2 Sam. vi. 7.

4 This was the celebrated Charles the Fifth, grandson of Ferdinand and
Isabella, who was born at Ghent, Feb. 24th, 1500. His mother, the infanta
Joanna, had married the Archduke Philip, son of the Emperor Maximilian, and
sovereign in right of his mother of the Low Countries.

¢ The Jnstitutio Principis Christiani was published 1516, and was written ‘ for
the special benefit of Prince Charles, who, then sixteen years old, had succeeded on
the death of Ferdinand in the spring of 1516 to the crowns of Castile and Aragon,
as well as to the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and of the island of Sardinia.’—
The Oxford Reformers, 2nd ed. p. 368.

‘ ¢The position assumed by Erasmus will be best learned by a brief examina-

96 THE GOVERNOUR. Ξ

of the lernynge and studie wherby noble men may attayne
to be worthy to haue autorite in a publike weale. Alway I

tion of the ‘‘ Institutes of a Christian Prince.” First, he struck at the root of the
notion that a prince having received his kingdom jure divino had a right to use it
for his own selfish ends. He laid down at starting the proposition that the one
thing which ‘‘a prince ought to keep in view in the administration of his govern-
ment is that same thing which a people ought to keep in view in choosing a prince,
viz., the public good.”” Christianity in his view was as obligatory on a prince as
on a priest or monk. Thus he wrote to Prince Charles—‘‘ As often as it comes
into your mind that you are a prince, call to mind also that you are a Christian
prince.” . . . . The good of the people was, from the Christian point of view,
to override everything else, even royal prerogatives. ‘‘If princes were perfect in
every virtue, a pure and simple monarchy might be desirable; but as this can
hardly ever be in actual practice, as human affairs are now, a /imited monarchy
(monarchia temperata) is preferable—one in which the aristocratic and democratic
elements are mixed and united, and so balance one another.” And, lest Prince
Charles should kick against the pricks and shrink from the abridgment of his
autocratic power, Erasmus tells him that ‘‘if a prince wish well to the republic,
his power will not be restrained but aided by these means.” . ... Proceeding
from the general to the particular there is a separate chapter, ‘‘De Vectigalibus
et Exactionibus,” remarkable for the clear expression of the views which More
had advanced in his “" Utopia,” and which the Oxford Reformers held in common,
with regard to the unchristian way in which the interests of the poor were too often
sacrificed and lost sight of in the levying of taxes. The great aim of a prince, he
contended, should be to reduce taxation as much as possible. Rather than in-
crease it, it would be better, he wrote, for a prince to reduce his unnecessary
expenditure, to dismiss idle ministers, to avoid wars and foreign enterprises, to
restrain the rapacity of ministers, and rather to study the right administration of
revenues than their augmentation. If it should be really necessary to exact some-
thing from the people, then, he maintained, it is the part of a good prince to
choose such ways of doing so as should cause as little inconvenience as possible to
those of slender means. It may, perhaps, be expedient to call upon the rich to be
frugal ; but to reduce the foor to hunger and crime would be both most inhuman
and also hardly safe. . . . It requires care also, he continued, lest the inequality
of property should be too great ; ‘‘not that I would wish to take away any pro-
perty from any one by force, but that means should be taken to prevent the wealth
of the multitude from getting into few hands.” Erasmus then proceeded to inquire
what mode of taxation would prove least burdensome to the people. And the
conclusion he came to was that ‘‘a good prince will burden with as few taxes as
possible such things as are in common use amongst the lowest classes, such things as
corn, bread, beer, wine, clothes, and other things necessary to life.’.. Erasmus
wound up this chapter on taxation by applying the principles of common honesty
to the question of coinage, in connexion with which many iniquities were perpe-
trated, by princes in the sixteenth century. In the chapter on the ‘* Making and
Amending of Laws,” Erasmus, in the same way, fixes upon some of the points

~

THE GOVERNOUR. 97

shall exhorte tutours and gouernours of noble chyldren, that
they suffre them nat to use ingourgitations* of meate or
drinke, ne to slepe moche, that is to saye, aboue viii houres at
the moste. For undoubtedly bothe repletion and superfluous
- slepe be capitall enemies to studie, as they be semblably to
helth of body and soule. Aulus Gellius sayth that
children, if they use of meate and slepe ouer moche,
be made therwith dull to lerne, and we se that therof slow-
nesse is taken, and the children’s personages do waxe un-
comely, and lasse growe instature.® Galen wyll nat permitte
that pure wyne, without alay of water, shulde in any wyse be
gyuen to children, for as moche as it humecteth the body, or

Gell. lib.iv.

which are so prominently mentioned in the ‘‘ Utopia.” Thus he urges that the
greatest attention should be paid, not to the punishment of crimes when committed,
but to the prevention of the commission of crimes worthy of punishment. Again
there is a paragraph in which it is urged that just as a wise surgeon does not pro-
ceed to amputation except as a last resort, so all remedies should be tried before
capital punishment is resorted to. This was one of the points urged by More.
Thus, also, in speaking of the removal of occasions and causes of crime, he urged,
just as More had done, that idle people should either be set to work or banished
from the realm. The number of priests and monasteries should be kept in
moderation. Other idle classes—especially soldiers—should not be allowed. As
@o the nobility he would not, he said, detract from the honour of their noble birthi
their character were noble also. ‘‘ But if they are such as we see plenty now-a-days—
softened by ease, made effeminate by pleasure, unskilled in all good arts, revellers,
eager sportsmen, not to say anything worse. . . why should this race of men be
preferred to shoemakers or husbandmen?” In the chapter De dello suscipiendo he
expressed his well-known hatred of war. It was natural that, holding as he did
in common with Colet and More, such strong views against war, he should express
them as strongly in this little treatise as he had already done elsewhere. . . It
may be interesting to inquire what remedies or substitutes for war he proposed.
He mentioned two. First, the reference of disputes between princes to arbitra-
tors ; second, the disposition on the part of princes rather to concede a point in
dispute than to insist upon it at far greater cost than the thing is worth.’— Zhe
Oxford Reformers, p. 371-377. It is somewhat remarkable that Mr. Seebohm
takes no notice of the commendation thus bestowed by Sir Thos. Elyot, the con-

temporary of Erasmus, and one of the best scholars of the day, upon this in-
teresting treatise.

* See the Glossary.

» Pueros impubes compertum est, si plurimo cibo nimioque somno uterentur,
hebetiores fieri, ad veterni usque aut eluci tarditatem; corporaque eorum improcera
fieri, minusque adolescere,—/Voct. Aftic. lib. iv, cap. 19,

H

Ps To 4h '

98 THE GOVERNOUR.

maketh it moyster and hotter than is conuenient, also it
fylleth the heed with fume, in them specially, whiche be lyke
as children of hote and moiste temperature. These be well
nighe the wordes of the noble Galen.*

CHAPTER XII.

Ν Why gentilmen tn this present tyme be nat equall in doctryne
to the auncient noble men.

NOWE wyll I somwhat declare of the chiefe causes why, in
our tyme, noble men be nat as excellent in lernying as they
were in olde tyme amonge the Romanes and grekes.>
Surely, as I haue diligently marked in dayly experience, the
principall causes be these. The pride, avarice, and negligence
of parentes, and the lacke or fewenesse of suffycient maysters
or teachers.° δ,

* Sane vinum, quam diutissimé, qui e4 natura puer est, ne gustare quidem
suaserim. Quippe quod haustum et humectat nimium et calefacit corpus, tum
caput halitu replet iis, qui humido calidoque temperamento sunt, quale est ejusmodig
puerorum.—De Sanitate tuendé, lib. i. fo, 12, ed. 1538. :

> *More’s opinion was that in England, in his time, ‘‘ far more than four parts
of the whole (people), divided into ten, could never read English,”’ and probably
the education of the other six-tenths was anything but satisfactory.".— 7he Oxford
Reformers, p. 353. ‘It is stated by a recent historian that as late as the reign of
Edward VI. there were peers of Parliament unable to read. Well might Roger
Ascham exclaim ‘‘ The fault is in yourselves, ye noblemen’s sons, and therefore
ye deserve the greater blame, that commonly the meaner men’s children come to be’
the wisest councillors and greatest doers in the weighty affairs of this realm.” ’—-
Essays on a Liberal Education, p. 46.

¢ The ‘avarice’ of parents was without doubt ¢he cause of ‘the lacke’ of
masters. Ascham bears witness to the same thing. ‘It is pity, that commonly
more care is had, yea and that among very wise men, to find out rather a cunning
man for their horse, than a cunning man for their children. They say nay in word,
but they do so in deed, for to the one they will gladly give a stipend of two
hundred crowns by the year, and loth to offer to the other two hundred
shillings.’—Works, vol. iii. p. 104, ed. 1864. ‘When Erasmus broached.
the subject of an under-master among certain Masters of Arts one said, ‘‘ Who
would be a schoolmaster that could live in any other way?” (Erasmus to Colet.)

THE GOVERNOUR. -99

As I sayd, pride is the first cause of this inconuenience.
For of those persons be some, which, without shame, dare
affirme, that to a great gentilman it is a notable reproche to
be well lerned * and to be called a great clerke: whiche name
they accounte to be of so base estymation, that they neuer
haue it in their mouthes but whan they speke any thynge in
derision, whiche perchaunce they wolde nat do if they had
ones layser to rede our owne cronicle of Englande,
where they shall fynde that kynge Henry the first ΠΡΟ

» beau clerk,
sonne of willyam conquerour, and one of the moste 4yge of

noble” princes that euer reigned in this realme, was 4 er
openly called Henry beau clerke, whiche is in englysshe, fayre
clerke, and is yet at this day so named.° And wheder that

—State Papers, vol. i. no. 4528. Knight, who quotes this letter in his Life of
Colet, says: ‘He had also in a former letter mentioned his fruitless endea-
. yours to serve him in the affair of an usher. And he did, not only in the former
of these epistles, but whenever he had an opportunity, encourage men of letters to
undertake the laborious care of a grammar school; of which he often speaks in
the highest commendation, as what exalts the schoolmaster to the highest dignity ;
whose business is to season youth in learning and religion, and raise up men for
the service of their country. ‘‘It may be,” says he, ‘‘the employment ἢ
accounted vile and mean in the opinion of fools, but in itself it is really great and
‘honourable.” ’— P. 149, ed. 1823.

* ¢A letter from Pace to Colet about the year 1500, prefixed to the former’s
De Fructu, shows the tone of this class of gentlemen. One is represented as
breaking out at table into abuse of letters. ‘*I swear,’’ he says, ‘‘rather than ἢ
my son should be bred a scholar, he should hang. To blow a neat blast on the
horn, to understand hunting, to carry a hawk handsomely and train it, that is |,
what becomes the son of a gentleman ; but as for:book learning, he should leave y
that to louts.”’—Zssays on a Liberal Education, p. 46.

» Suger, the abbé of Saint Denys, who was born in 1081, and was therefore
a contemporary, says: Vir prudentissimus Henricus, cujus tam admiranda quam.
preedicanda animi et corporis strenuitas et scientia gratam offerrent materiam.’—>
Vita Ludovici Grossi, cap. i. See Migne’s Patrologie Cursus, tom. 186, p. 1258:

¢ Fabyan, who died in 1512, says, that ‘for his connyng he was surnamed Bew-
clerke ;’ and adds that ‘in his youth he plyed him to suche study that he was
enstructe in the vii artys lyberallys.’—Chron. p. 318, ed. 1559. Matt. Paris calls
him ‘providus, sed astutus et avarus, patre sic jubente, quia imbellis, officio cleri-
cali est addictus, et in eo bene ac expedienter profecit ; et jam legisperitus effectus
est ;;—A/ist.. Angi. vol. i. p. 31, and adds, ‘vir videlicet literis addictus et jam
eleganter in grammatica et jure eruditus, mente sagax, corpore decorus, viribus
integer.’— Ubi supra, p. 163. Ordericus Vitalis calls him /iteratus rex, and the |

H2

100 THE GOVERNOUR.

name be to his honour or to his reproche, let them iuge that
do rede and compare his lyfe with his two bretherne, william
called Rouse,* and Robert le courtoise,® they both nat hauyng

English translator of that writer has ‘not ventured to put a gloss on the phrase,
as there seems to be some doubt respecting Henry’s claims to be considered a
man of letters in the modern sense of the words, notwithstanding his surname
of Beauclerc’ ‘It is singular,’ he adds, ‘that neither Henry of Huntingdon nor
William of Malmesbury, contemporary writers who have taken extended views of
his character, the latter even describing his person, should be altogether silent on
the subject of his literary attainments.—Malmesbury, indeed, says incidentally that
‘he could not read much aloud, guamvis ipse nec multum palam legeret’ (lib. v.).—
Bohn’s Antig. Lib. vol. iii. p. 352. William of Malmesbury, however, gives him
credit for more than this, for he says thaf he was ‘ Philosophid non adeo exiliter
informatus. Itaque pueritiam ad spem regni literis muniebat; subinde, patre
quoque audiente, jactitare proverbium solitus, ‘‘ Rex illiteratus asinus coronatus.”’
And further that ‘librorum mella adeo avidis medullis indidit, ut nulli posted bel-
lorum tumultus, nulli curarum motus eas excutere illustri animo possent.’— Gesta
eg. Angl. lib. v. § 390. ‘

* By Mat. Paris he is called ‘ cognomento, capite, et mente, Rufus et vulpinus.’—
Hist. Anglorum, vol. i. p. 131, Chron. and Mem. Wace calls him ‘ Willame li Ros’
in Le Roman de Rou, tom ii. p. 304, ed Pluquet. Robert of Gloucester, ‘ Wyllam
ye rede Kyng,’ p. 383, ed. 1724. It is probable that the character of Rufus has
received a deeper tingé than it deserved, in consequence of his having incurred
the hatred of the clergy, who were also his biographers ; thus the French abbot
Suger, speaking of his death, says: ‘ Divinatum est virum divina ultione percussum,
assumpto veritatis argumento, eo quod pauperum exstiterat intolerabilis oppressor,
ecclesiarum crudelis exactor, et si quando episcopi vel przelati decederent, irre-
verentissimus retentor et dissipator.’—Vita Ludovict Grossi, cap. i. See Migne’s
Pat. Curs. tom. clxxxvi. p. 1257.

> Fabyan calls him ‘Robert the eldest sone of Kynge Wyllyam, thé whiche
was surnamed Curthose or Shorthose, and Shorte Bote also.’-—Cap. ccxxii. p. 245,
ed. 1811. And the reason of this nickname being given to him is thus stated by
Vitalis: ‘Facie obesa, corpore pingui, brevique statura, unde vulgo Gambaron cog-
nominatus est et Brevis-Ocrea.’—Lib. iv. cap. 25. Migne, Patrol. Curs. tom. 188.
And in another place he says: ‘Corpore autem brevis et grossus, ideoque Brevis-
Ocrea (Gallicé Courte-Heuse) patre est cognominatus.’—Lib. viii. cap. 1. μὲ supra.
Wace gives a somewhat similar explanation of the name:

Peti fu mult, maiz fu gros,
Jambes out cortes, gros les os ;
Li Reis por ¢o le sornomout
E Corte-Hose l’apelout ;
De cortes hoses ert hosez
E Corte-Hose ert apelez.
Le Roman de Rou, tom. ii. p. 304, ed. Pluquet.

THE GOVERNOUR. IOI

semblable lernyng with the sayd Henry, the one for his dis-
solute lyuyng and tyranny beynge hated of all his nobles and
people, finally was sodaynely slayne by the shotte of an
arowe,* as he was huntynge in a forest, whiche to make larger
_and to gyue his deere more lybertie, he dyd cause the houses
of lii parisshes to be pulled downe, the people to be expelled,
and all beyng desolate to be tourned in to desert, and made
onely pasture for beestes sauage ;» whiche he wolde neuer haue

* Sir Thomas Elyot, it will be seen, gives Walter Tyrrel the benefit of the
doubt which arose almost imntediately, and was subject of grave discussion by
subsequent historians. John of Salisbury, who wrote not many years afterwards,
says: ‘ Quis alterutrum miserit telum, adhuc incertum est quidem. Nam Walterus
Tyrrellus ille, qui regize necis reus a plurimis dictus est, eo quod illi familiaris erat
et tunc in indagine ferarum vicinus, et fere singulariter adhzrebat, etiam cum ageret
in extremis, se ἃ czede illius immunem esse, invocato in animam suam Dei judicio,
protestatus est. Fuerunt plurimi qui ipsum regem jaculum quo interemptum est
misisse asserunt et hoc Walterus ille, etsi non crederetur ei, constanter asserebat.’—
—Vita S. Anselmi, ed. Migne, p. 1031. The French abbé Suger, who was
himself a contemporary of Tyrrell says: ‘Imponebatur a quibusdam cuidam no-
bilissimo viro Galterio Tirello quod eum sagitta perfoderat. Quem cum nec
timeret, nec speraret, jurejurando sepius audivimus, et quasi sacrosanctum asserere
quod ea die nec in eam partem silvze in qua rex venabatur venerit, nec eum in silva
omnino viderit.’— Vita Ludovict Grossi, cap. i. ubi supra. Ordericus Vitalis, who
was born in 1075 and died in 1141, and was therefore also a contemporary,
attributes the king’s death to misadventure. His account is as follows: *‘ Cumque
Rex et Gualterius de Pice cum paucis sodalibus in nemore constituti. essent, et
armati preedam avidé exspectarent, subito inter eos currente fera, rex de statu suo
recessit, et Gualterius sagittam emisit. Quze super dorsum ferz setam radens
rapide volavit, atque regem ἃ regione stantem lethaliter vulneravit.’—Lib. x. cap. 12,
ed Migne; and it must be admitted that this account is very rational and bears the
marks of truth on the face of it. On the other hand it was only natural, from the
hatred with which he was regarded, especially by the clergy, who were also the
historians of the event, that his death should be assumed to have been premeditated.
Turner says ‘It was the misfortune of Rufus that his death benefited so many—
Henry, France, and the clergy—that no critical inquiry was made into its cause.’
—Hist. of Eng. vol. iv. p. 168.

> This is exactly the account given by Knyghton, canon of Leicester in the
reigns of Edward III., Richard II., and Henry IV., who says: ‘ Hic Willielmus
fecit forestas in multis locis per medium regni et inter Southamtonam et Prioraturn
de Twynam qui nunc vocatur Crystischyrke prostravit et exterminavit viginti duas
ecclesias matrices, cum villis, capellis, et maneriis atque mansionibus, secundum vero
quosdam (it ecclesias parochiales, et fecit de loco illo Forestam noyam quam vocavit

eve yk er es ὗν ay On

102 THE GOVERNOUR.

done if he had as moche delyted in good lerning as dyd his
brother.

The other brother, Robert le Courtoise, beyng duke of
‘Normandie, and the eldest sonne of wylliam Conquerour, all be
it that he was a man of moche prowesse, and right expert in
martial affayres, wherfore he gvas electe before Godfray of
Boloigne to haue ben kyng of Hierusalem;* yet natwith-

suum novum herbarium et replevit eam cervis, damis, et aliis feris parcens illi per vii
annos primos, venattis gratia. Que vastaverunt blada et segetes in magnum gravamen
compatriotis. Et tantam exercuit per forestas duritiam quod pro dama hominem
suspenderet, pro lepore xxs plecteretur, pro cuniculorxs daret.’—Decem Scriptores, fo.
2373, ed. 1652. Ordericus Vitalis makes the number of depopulated parishes still
larger: ‘plus quam Ix parochias ultro devastavit, ruricolas ad alia loca transmigrare
compulit, et silvestres feras pro hominibus, ut voluptatem venandi haberet ibidem
constituit.’—Lib, x. cap. 11, ed. Migne. But he attributes the creation of the forest

to the first William, whereas Knyghton distinctly states, as we have just seen, that

it was made by Rufus ; it is evident, therefore, that Sir Thomas Elyot has adopted
his account rather than that of Vitalis. Wilhelmus Gemiticensis, who had been
chaplain to the Conqueror, says that Richard, brother to Rufus, had been killed
in the lifetime of his father ‘in eadem silva, dum simili modo venaretur, ictu
arboris male evitatz,’ and he adds that it was the common opinion that the sins of
the father were visited upon the children, ‘quoniam multas villas et ecclesias propter
eandem forestam amplificandam in circuitu ipsius destruxerat.’—Lib. vii. cap. 9.
Camden’s Anglica Scripta, ed. 1603. William of Malmesbury mentions the circum-
stance of Richard’s death in the New Forest, which, however, hesays ‘ tabidiaeris ne-
bula incurrisse’; and after charging William the Conqueror with the act of devasta-
tion, he recounts further proofs of the divine judgment ; ‘ ibi multa regio generi con-
tigere infortunia, quze habitatorum presens audire volentibus suggerit memoria :
nam postmodum in eadem silva Willelmus filius ejus, et nepos Ricardus, filius
Roberti comitis Normanniz, mortem offenderint: severo Dei judicio 1116 sagitté
pectus, iste collum trajectus, vel, ut quidam dicunt, arboris ramusculo equo per-
transeunte fauces appensus.’— Gesta Reg. Angi. lib. iii. § 275, ed. Migne.

* This passage seems to furnish additional proof of what was suggested above,
that the author had consulted Knyghton’s history for the events of this reign,

although the story, as reproduced by the learned canon, bears rather a different:

complexion from that which it originally had. ‘In terra sancta,’ says Knyghton,
‘multa egregia gessit. Ita ubique mirabilis ut nunquam per Christianum aut
Paganum de equo dejici potuit. _ Denique cum in Sabbato Paschali apud
Lerosolymam inter czteros astaret Christianos, expectans ignem more solito de
supernis in cereum alicujus descendere, cereus ejus divinitiis accensus est, unde et
ab omnibus in regem Jerosolymorum electus est.’—-Twysden, Decem Scrip. fo. 2375.
Mat. Paris, who narrates the story of the election, embellishes it with the cutious
addition that on Robert’s refusal of the honour, the Crusaders elected Godfrey,

ΤῊΝ

THE GOVERNOUR. 103

᾿

standynge whan he inuaded this realme with sondrie puis-
saunt armies, also dyuers noble men aydinge hym, yet his
noble brother Henry beau clerke, more by wysdome than
power, also by lernynge, addyng polycie to vertue and courage,
often tymes vaynquisshed hym, and dyd put him to flyght.
And after sondry victories finally toke him and kepte hym
in prison, hauyng none other meanes to kepe his realme in
tranquillitie.*

It was for no rebuke, but for an excellent honour, that the
emperour Antonine” was surnamed philosopher, for by his
moste noble example of lyuing, and industrie incomparable,°

and conducted him with due solemnity to the Holy Sepulchre, erudescente duce
Roberto.—Hist. Anglorum, vol. i. p. 150. ;

* Vitalis narrates at length the interview at Gisors in Normandy between the
Pope Calixtus II. and Henry, when the latter sought to justify the detention of
his brother in close custody. He is made to say, ‘Frater enim meus incentores
totius nequitiz tuebatur, et illorum concilia, per quos vilis et contemptibilis erat,
admodum amplectebatur. ‘Gunherius nimirum de Alneio, et Rogerius de Laceio,
Robertus quoque de Belismo, aliique scelesti Normannis dominabantur, et sub
imaginatione ducis preesulibus omnique clero cum inermi populo principabantur.
Illos siquidem quos ego de transmariné regione’ pro nefariis exturbaveram
factionibus, intimos sibi consiliarios, et colonis presides przefecit innocentibus.
Innumere czedes et incendia passim agebantur, et dira facinora, que inexperti pene
incredibilia putant. Fratri meo mandavi szpius ut meis uteretur consultibus
eique totis adminicularer nisibus. Sed ille me contempto meis contra me potitus
est insidiatoribus.’—Lib. xii. cap. 12, ed. Migne.

> The author has confounded the Emperor Antoninus Pius with his successor
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus; it was the latter to whom the epithet of ‘the philo-
sopher’ was applied. But the mistake is not very surprising, because Victor says
of the former, ‘adeo equalis, probisque moribus, uti plane docuerit, neque jugi
pace, ac longo otio absoluta ingenia corrumpi : eoque demum fortunatas urbes fore,
si regna sapientize sint..—De Cesaribus, cap. xv. While on the other hand the
biographer of the /atéer says : ‘Sententia Platonis semper in ore illius fuit, Florere
civitates, si aut philosopht imperarent, aut imperatores philosopharentur.’—Historia
Augusta, tom. i. p. 394, ed. 1671. Eutropius says of Aurelius: ‘ Philosophiz
deditus Stoicee, ipse etiam non solum vite moribus, sed etiam eruditione Philoso-
phus.’—Lib. viii.cap. 11. And he goes on to tell us: ‘ Institutus est ad philoso-
phiam per Apollonium Chalcedonium, ad scientiam literarum Gracarum per
Sextum Chzeronensem, Plutarchi nepotem.’

¢ *The Stoic philosophy,’ says Niebuhr, ‘opened to M. Aurelius a com-
pletely new world. The letters of Fronto, which are otherwise childish and
trifling, throw an interesting light upon young M, Aurelius’ state of mind at the

104 THE GOVERNOUR.

he during all the tyme of his reigne kept the publike weale
of the Romanes in suche a perfecte astate, that by his actes
he confirmed the sayeng of Plato, That blessed is that pub-
_ like weale wherin either philosophers do reigne, or els kinges
be in philosophie studiouse.*

These persones that so moche contemne lernyng, that they
wolde that gentilmen’s children shulde haue no parte or very
litle therof, but rather shulde spende their youth alway (I
saye not onely in huntynge and haukyng,” whiche moderately

time when he cast rhetoric aside and sought happiness in philosophy; not,
indeed, in its dialectic subtleties, but in its faith in virtue and eternity. He
bore the burdens of his exalted position in the manner in which, according
to the precepts of pious men, we ought to take up our cross and bear it patiently.
Actuated by this sentiment, M, Aurelius exerted all his powers for the good of
the empire, and discharged all his duties, ever active, no less in the military
than in the civil administration of the empire. He complains of want of time to
occupy himself with intellectual pursuits; but then he consoles himself again
with the thought that he is doing his duty and fulfilling his mission.’—Zectures
on Rom. Hist. cxxxiii. ed. 1870, Another modern historian says: ‘The
habits of mind which Aurelius had cultivated during the period of his pro-
bation were little fitted perhaps to give him a foresight of the troubles now
impending. In presiding on the tribunals, in guiding the deliberations of the
senate, in receiving embassies and appointing magistrates, he had shrunk from no
fatigue or responsibility ; but the distaste he expressed from the first for his politi-
cal eminence continued, no doubt, to the end : his heart was still with his chosen
studies, and with the sophists and rhetoricians who aided him in them. Hadrian,
in mere gaiety of heart, turned the prince into an academician, but it was with
genuine reluctance and under a strong sense of duty that Aurelius converted the
academician into the prince. But the hope that his peculiar training might render
him a model to sovereigns—the recollection of the splendid fallacy of Plato, that
states would surely flourish were but their philosophers princes or were but their
princes philosophers—sustained him in his arduous and unwelcome task, and
contributed to his success in it.’—Merivale, Hist. of Rome, vol. vii. p. 565.

® Ἐὰν μή, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ἢ of φιλόσοφοι βασιλεύσωσιν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἢ of βασιλῆς
τε νῦν λεγόμενοι καὶ δυνάσται φιλοσοφήσωσι γνησίως τε καὶ ἱκανῶς, καὶ τοῦτο εἰς
ταὐτὸν ξυμπέσῃ .. .. ovk ἔστι κακῶν παῦλα, & φίλε Γλαύκων, ταῖς πόλεσι, δοκῶ Se
οὐδὲ τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ γένει.--- De Rep. lib. v. cap. 18, It may be here remarked that

William of Malmesbury has applied the same sentiment to the reign of Henry the.

First, whom he evidently regarded as another Antoninus.

» ‘Hunting and hawking skilfully,’ says Strutt, ‘were also acquirements that
he (ze. an accomplished gentleman) was obliged to possess, and which were
usually taught him as soon as he was able to endure the fatigue that they required.
Hence it is said of Sir Tristram, a fictitious character held forth as the mirror of

THE GOVERNOUR. 105

used, as solaces ought to be, I intende nat to disprayse) but in
those ydle pastymes, whiche, for the vice that is therin, the
commaundement of the prince, and the uniuersall consent of
the people, expressed in statutes and lawes, do prohibite,
I meane, playeng at dyce, and other games named unlefull.*

chivalry in the romance intituled Zhe Death of Arthur, that ‘‘as he growed in
might and strength he laboured ever in hunting and in hawking, so that never
gentleman more that ever we heard tell of. And, as the book saith, he began
good measures of blowing of beasts of venery and beasts of chase, and all manner
of vermains ; and all these terms we have yet of hawking and hunting, and there-
fore the book of venery of hawking and hunting, is called the book of Sir
Tristram.” ’—Introduction to Sports and Pastimes, pp. vii. viii. Strutt also quotes
from a document of the time of Henry the Seventh (Harl. MS. 69), the preamble
of which states, ‘ Whereas it ever hath bene of old antiquitie used in this realme of
most noble fame, for all lustye gentlemen to passe the delectable season of summer.
after divers manner and sondry fashions of disports, as in hunting the red and
fallowe deer with hounds, greyhounds, and with the bowe: also in hawking with
hawks of the tower, and other pastimes of the field.’—/dzd. p. xii. Henry the
Eighth was exceedingly fond of hunting, hawking, and other field sports. Thus
Hall, recording the events of the eighteenth year of his reign, says, * All this
sommer the kyng tooke his pastyme in huntyng.’— Chron. fo. cxlix. ed. 1548. Sir
Thomas More makes a young gallant say,

‘Manhod I am, therefore I me delight
To hunt and hawke, to nourishe up and fede
The grayhounde to the course, the hawke to the flyght,
And to bestryde a good and lusty stede :
These thynges become a very man in dede.’
See Warton’s //ist. of Eng. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 97.

>

Hawks were the subject of legislation in the reign of Edw. I.; thus in the Carta
de foresta it was enacted that ‘every freeman shall have within his own woods
ayries of hawks, sparrow-hawks, faulcons, eagles, and herons.’ The reader will
find more information on this subject in the notes to Chapter XVIII. zzfra.

* The thirty-eighth canon of the Council of Worcester, held in 1240, contains
the following prohibition : ‘ Prohibemus etiam clericis ne intersint ludis inhonestis
vel choreis vel ludant ad aleas vel taxillos, nec sustineant ludos fieri de Rege et
Regina, nec arietes levari nec palzestras publicas fieri..—Du Cange, sud Ludo.
Ordericus Vitalis tells us that in his time even the prelates of the church were in
the habit of playing at dice. A still more celebrated writer, John of Salisbury,
who lived a little later in the same century, speaks of dice-playing as being then
extremely prevalent, and enumerates no less than ten different games, which
he names in Latin. See De nugis Curialium, lib.i.c. 5. A great deal of curious
information on the subject of dice may be found in a treatise called ‘ Palamedes,
sive de tabula lusoria et aleatoribus,’ written by one Daniel Souter in 1622, and

106 ; THE GOVERNOUR.

These persones, I say, I wolde shulde remembre, or elles nowe
lerne, if they neuer els herde it, that the noble Philip kyng of
Macedonia, who subdued al Greece, aboue all the good for-
tunes that euer he hadde, most reioysed that his sonne Alex-
ander was borne in the tyme that Aristotle the philosopher
flourisshed, by whose instruction he mought attaine to most

excellent lernynge.®
Also the same Alexander often tymes sayd that he was

dedicated to Sir Edward Zouche, who was then Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
and Constable of Dover Castle. By 12 Ric. II. c. 6, servants were prohibited from
playing ‘at tennis or football, and other games called coits, dice, casting of the stone,
kailes, and other such importune games.’ And by 11 Hen. VII» c. 2, it was en-
acted that ‘ noon apprentice, ne servaunt of husbondry, laborer, ner servaunt artificer
pley at the Tables from the xth day of January next commyng, but onely for mete
and drinke ; ner at the Tenys Closshe, Dise, Cardes, Bowles, nor any other un-
lawfull game in no wise out of Cristmas, and in Cristmas to pley oonly in.the
dwelling house of his maister, or where the maister of any the seid servauntes is
present.’ In the eighteenth year of Henry the Eighth, according to Hall, ‘In the
moneth of Maie, was a proclamacion made against al unlawfuil games accordyng
to the statutes made in this behalf, and commissions awarded into every shire for
the execution of the same; so that in all places Tables, Dice, Cardes, and Boules
. wer taken and brent. Wherfore the people murmured against the Cardinall,
saying that he grudged at every mannes pleasure savyng his owne ; but this Pro-
clamacion small tyme endured, and when young men were forbidden Boules and
such other games, some fell to drinkyng, and some to ferettyng of other mennes
conies and stealyng of dere in Parkes, and other unthrittiness.’"—- Chronicle, fo. cxlix.
ed. 1548 ; and see further on this subject in the notes to Chapter XX. zz/fra.

® Aulus Gellius is the authority for this assertion. He says: ‘Is Philippus,
‘cum in omni fere tempore negotiis belli victoriisque affectus exercitusque esset, a
liberali tamen Musa et a studiis humanitatis nunquam’abfuit ; quin lepide
_ comiterque pleraque et faceret et diceret. Feruntur adeo libri Epistolarum ejus
munditiz et venustatis et prudentiz plenarum: velut sunt illz literae, quibus
Aristoteli philosopho natum esse sibi Alexandrum nuntiavit. Ea Epistola,
. quoniam cure diligentizeque in liberorum disciplinas hortamentum est, exscribenda
visa est ad commovendos parentum animos. Exponenda igitur est ad hanc ferme
sententiam: ‘‘Philippus Aristoteli salutem dicit. Filium mihi genitum scito.
Quod equidem Dis habeo gratiam: non proinde quia natus est, quam pro eo quod
eum nasci contigit temporibus vite tuze. Spero enim fore, ut eductus eruditusque abs
te dignus existat et nobis et rerum istarum susceptione.” Ipsius autem Philippi verba
heec sunt: Φίλιππος ᾿Αριστοτέλει χαίρειν. Ἴσθι μοι γεγονότα viov, πολλὴν οὖν τοῖς θεοῖς
χαρὶν ἔχω, οὐχ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει τοῦ παιδὸς, ὡς ἐπὶ τῷ κατὰ τὴν σὴν ἡλικιάν

αὐτὴν γεγονέναι. ἐλπίζω γὰρ αὐτὸν, ὑπὸ σοῦ τραφέντα καὶ παιδευθέντα, ἄξιον ἔσεσθαι

καὶ ἡμῶν καὶ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων diadoxqs.’—Voct. Ait. lib. ix. cap. 3.

THE GOVERNOUR. ; 107

equally as moche bounden to Aristotle as to his father kyng
Philip, for of his father he receyued lyfe, but of Aristotle he
receyued the waye to lyue nobly.*

Who dispraysed Epaminondas, the mooste.valiant capi-
tayne of Thebanes, for that he was excellently lerned and a
great philosopher?” Who euer discommended Julius Cesar
for that he was a noble oratour, and, nexte to Tulli, in the
eloquence of the latin tonge excelled al other?® Who euer

4 This is narrated both by Plutarch and Curtius: the former says: ᾿Αριστο-
τέλην δὲ θαυμάζων ἐν ἀρχῇ καὶ ἀγαπῶν οὐχ ἧττον, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔλεγε, τοῦ πατρὸς, ὡς δι᾽
ἐκεῖνον μὲν ζῶν, διὰ τοῦτον δὲ καλῶς ζῶν.---Ῥ]αίατοι, Alex. 8. The latter: ‘Ipse
quidem preedicavit, ‘‘non minus se debere Aristoteli quam Philippo : hujus enim
munis fuisse, quod viveret ; illius, quod honesté viveret.” ’—Lib. i. cap. 3. Bishop
Thirlwall says : ‘ When we consider the shortness of the time, and the early age to
which this part of Alexander’s education was limited, we might be inclined to
think that Aristotle’s influence over his mind and character can scarcely have been
very considerable. Nevertheless, it is at least certain that theireconnection lasted
long enough to impress the scholar with a high degree of attachment and reverence
for the master—of whom he used to say that he loved him no less than his father ;
for to the one he owed life, to the other the art of living—and even with some
interest in his philosophical pursuits.’—/7ést. of Greece, vol. vi. p. 132, where it is
to be noticed that the modern historian has omitted to translate the word which
Sir Thomas Elyot perceived to be the most expressive in the Greek as well as in
the Latin.

> Eruditus autem sic, ut nemo Thebanus magis. Nam et citharizare, et cantare
ad chordarum sonum doctus est ἃ Dionysio: qui non minore fuit in musicis gloria,
quam Damon, aut Lamprus ; quorum pervulgata sunt nomina : carmina cantare
tibiis ab Olympiodoro, saltare a Calliphrone. At philosophiz preeceptorem habuit
Lysim Tarentinum, Pythagoreum : cui quidem sic fuit deditus, ut adolescens tristem
et severum senem omnibus zequalibus suis in familiaritate anteposuerit: neque
prius eum ἃ se dimiserit, quam in doctrinis tanto antecesserit condiscipulos, ut
facile intelligi posset, pari modo superaturum omnes in ceteris artibus. .. .
Itaque cum in circulum venisset, in quo aut de republica disputaretur, aut de
philosophid sermo haberetur, nunquam inde prius discessit, quam ad finem sermo
esset adductus..... Fuit etiam disertus, ut nemo Thebanus ei par esset
. eloquentia : neque minus concinnus in brevitate respondendi, quam in perpetua
oratione ornatus.—Cornel. Nepos. Zpaminondas, 2, 5.

¢ C, vero Cesar si foro tantum vacasset, non alius ex nostris-contra Ciceronem
nominaretur ; tanta in eo vis est, id acumen, ea concitatio, ut illum eodem animo
dixisse, quo bellavit, appareat ; exornat tamen hzec omnia mira sermonis, cujus
proprie studiosus fuit, elegantia.’—Quintilian, “σέ. Orat. lib. x. cap. i. § 114.
Mr. Long says: ‘The two roads to distinction at Rome were oratory and
military ability ; and Caesar was both a soldier and an orator. ... His first

108 THE GOVERNOUR.

reproued the emperour Hadriane for that he was so exqui-
sitely lerned, nat onely in greke and latine,* but also in all
sciences liberall, that openly at Athenes, in the uniuersall
assembly of the greatteste clerkes of the worlde, he by a longe
tyme disputed with philosophers and Rhetoriciens, whiche
were estemed mooste excellent, and by the iugement of
them that were present had the palme or rewarde of vic-

torie?® And yet, by the gouernance of that noble emperour,

oration, which was against Cn. Dolabella, who was charged with the offence of
Repetundz in Macedonia, was spoken when Czesar was still a very young man.
Dolabella was acquitted ; but Czesar’s prosecution was the foundation of his repu-
tation as an orator. Ceesar’s orations were not collected by himself; and thpugh
they were extant, or some of them at least, long after his death, we have only a
few fragments. The speech which Sallustius attributes to Ceesar, when he spoke
of the punishment of the conspirators in B.C. 63, is generally supposed to be the

historian’s own composition.’—Decline of the Roman Republic, vol. v. p. 477. -

Cicero says that Czesar spoke Latin perhaps best of all the Roman orators. His
words are these: ‘ De Ceesare et ipse ita judico, et de hoc hujus generis acerrimo
zstimatore szepissime audio, illum omnium feré oratorum Latiné loqui elegantis-
simé ; nec id solum domestica consuetudine, ut dudum de Leliorum et Muciorum
familiis audiebamus, sed quamquam id quoque credo fuisse, tamen ut esset perfecta
illa bené loquendi laus, multis literis, et iis quidem reconditis et exquisitis, sum-
moque studio et diligentia est consequutus.’—Zrutus, cap. 72. And in another
place he says: ‘Czesar autem rationem adhibens, consuetudinem vitiosam et cor-
ruptam, pura et incorrupta consuetudine emendat. Itaque quum ad hanc
elegantiam verborum Latinorum (qu, etiamsi orator non sis, et sis ingenuus civis
Romanus, tamen necessaria est) adjungit illa oratoria ornamenta dicendi, tum
videtur tamquam tabulas bene pictas collocare in bono lumine: hance quum
habeat preecipuam laudem in communibus, non video cui debeat cedere : splen-
didam quamdam, minimeque veteratoriam rationem dicendi tenet, voce, motu, forma
etiam magnifica et generosa quodammodo.’—J/@zd. cap. 75.

* ‘«Facundissimus Latino sermone, Greco eruditissimus fuit.’-—Zutropius, lib.
viii. cap. 7. Merivale says: ‘For five years he was placed under the fashionable
teachers of letters and philosophy in Greece, and the success which attended him
in these and other kindred studies, the boast of the city of Minerva, gained him
the familiar nickname of Greeculus. He became imbued, we are assured, wth the
true spirit of the Athenians, and not only acquired their language, but
rivalled them in all their special accomplishments—in singing, in playing, in
medicine, in mathematics, in painting, and in sculpture, in which he nearly

equalled a Polycletus and a Euphranor’ (Victor, Epit. 28).—Hist. of Rome, vol..

vii. p. 405.
» This appears to go rather beyond the statements of Victor and Spartianus,’

THE GOVERNOUR. 109

nat only the publik weale florisshed but also diuers rebellions
were suppressed, and the maiesty of the empire hugely
increased.* Was it any reproche to the noble Germanicus ἢ
(who by the assignement of Augustus ° shulde haue succeded

i.e. if it refers to the passage of the former quoted in the last note, it is a very

liberal interpretation of the phrase ‘potitus non sermone tantum sed et ceteris

disciplinis,’ &c. And if Sir Thomas Elyot is referring to the life of Hadrian by

Spartianus in the Augustan history, the only passage which could afford any justi-

fication for so strong an assertion would seem to be the following : ‘ Et quamvis

esset oratione et versu promptissimus, et in omnibus artibus peritissimus, tamen

professores omnium artium semper ut doctior risit, contempsit, obtrivit. Cum his ipsis
professoribus et philosophis, libris vel carminibus invicem editis, seepe certavit. Et.
Favorinus quidem, cum verbum ejus quoddam ab Hadriano reprehensum esset,

atque ille cessisset, arguentibus amicis quod male cederet Hadriano, de verbo

quod idonei auctores usurpassent, risum jucundissimum movit. Ait enim, ‘‘Non recte

suadetis, familiares, qui non patimini me illum doctiorem omnibus credere qui
habet triginta legiones.” ’—/ist. Aug. tom. i. p. 148, ed. 1671. The author last
τ quoted says indeed ‘apud Alexandriam in Museo multas questiones professoribus

proposuit et propositas ipse dissolvit.’ —/ézd. p. 182.

* Niebuhr says: ‘No Roman emperor before him had looked upon himself as
the real master of the world, but merely as the sovereign of Rome, or, at most, of
Italy. His reign passed almost without any wars; and if we except the insur-
rection of the Jews, we hear only of trifling military operations, that, for example,
against the revolted Mauretanians, whom he reduced very speedily... . This
war (with the Jews) was the only shock which the Roman Empire experienced in the
reign of Hadrian, but it was, after all, of no great importance. His reign, which
lasted nearly twenty-two years, was thus free from any remarkable calamity ; and,
as it passed away in almost uninterrupted peace, it may be regarded as one of the
happiest periods of the empire.’—Lect. Rom. Hist. cxxxii. ed. 1870.

> Merivale says: ‘The large training of the highest Roman education had
fitted him, amidst these public avocations, to take a graceful interest in literature.
His compositions in Greek and Latin verse were varied, and perhaps more than
respectable for school exercises, with which only they should be compared.’ And
adds in a note, ‘The Greek comedy of Germanicus (Sueton. Ca/ig. 3) was proba-
bly a mere scholastic imitation, such as was generally the character of the Greek
verses of the young Roman nobles. His translation of Aratus (which I believe to
be genuine) may have served to relieve the dulness of the study of astronomy
without the aid of telescopes or the Principia. But Ovid solicits his patronage
for the most learned of his own works, at a time when such applications were not
merely compliments.’—/2s¢. of Rome, vol. v. p. 24.

* ‘At hercule Germanicum, Druso ortum, octo apud Rhenum legionibus
imposuit, ascirique per adoptionem a Tiberio jussit ; quanquam esset in domo
Tiberii filius juvenis ; sed quo pluribus munimentis insisteret.’—Tacitus, Anna/es,
lib. i. cap. 3.

‘

᾿

IIO THE GOVERNOUR.

Tiberius in the empire, if traitorous enuy had nat in his
flourysshynge youth bireft hym his lyfe)* that he was equall to
the moost noble poetes of his time, and, to the increase of his
honour and moost worthy commendation, his image was set up
at Rome, in the habite that poetes at those dayes used ?”
Fynally howe moche excellent lernynge commendeth, and nat
dispraiseth, nobilitie, it shal playnly appere unto them that do
rede the lyfes of Alexander called Seuerus,°® Tacitus,4 Probus

* Whether he died by a natural death or by poison is a question upon which
the ancients themselves are not agreed. Niebuhr is ‘inclined to believe that his
death was a natural one; for the statements brought forward against Piso refer to
sorcery rather than to poison: of the former there seem to have been proofs,
and superstition was then very prevalent, and a person who could resort to
sorcery would not be likely to attempt poison.’—Lectures on Rom. Hist. cxxiv.
While Merivale says: ‘It results clearly, from the acknowledgments of the nar-
rator, whose hostility to the third Czesar is strongly marked, that the evidence
advanced to prove the murder of Germanicus was completely nugatory. Still less
does there appear any reasonable ground to implicate Tiberius himself in paztici-
pation in the schemes of Piso, even supposing the guilt of the latter in this respect
to be still matter of question.’—Hist. of Rome, vol. v. p. 108. ὮὯ

> There is no allusion to this in Tacitus, who enumerates the various honours
which were decreed. ‘ Honores, ut quis amore in Germanicum aut ingenio validus,
reperti decretique : ut nomen ejus Saliari carmine caneretur ; sedes curules Sacer-
dotum Augustalium locis, superque eas querceze coronz statuerentur; ludos Circenses
eburna effigies praeiret ; neve quis Flamen aut Augur in locum Germanici, nisi
gentis Julie, crearetur...... Statuarum locorumye, in quis colerentur, haud
facile quis numerum inierit. Cum censeretur clypeus auro et magnitudine insignis,
inter auctores eloquentiz, asseveravit Tiberius, solitum paremque ceteris
dicaturum ; neque enim eloquentiam fortuna discerni : et satis illustre, si veteres
inter scriptores haberetur.’—Anmai. lib. ii. cap. 83. ;

¢* The dryness of business was relieved by the charms of literature; and a
portion of time was always set apart for his favourite studies of poetry, history,
and philosophy. The works of Virgil and Horace, the Republics of Plato and
Cicero, formed his taste, enlarged his understanding, and gave him the noblest
ideas of man and government.’—Decline and Fall of Rom. Empire, vol. i. p. 287.
Accotding to Lampridius, ‘ Ne unum quidem diem sponte sua transire passus est, quo
se non et ad litteras et ad militiam exerceret’ (cap. 3) ; and he gives a long list of
the young prince’s instructors, but, curiously enough, he goes on to say, ‘Sed in
Latinis non multum profecit, ut ex ejusdem orationibus apparet quas in senatu
habuit, vel in contionibus quas apud milites vel apud populum; nec valde amavit
Latinam facundiam, sed amavit litteratos homines vehementer,’ for which he gives
a very sufficient reason—‘ eos etiam reformidans ne quid de se asperum scriberent.’

ἃ The greatest of modern historians says: ‘If we can prefer personal merit to

|

THE GOVERNOUR. III

Aurelius,* Constantine, Theodosius,° and Charles the gret, sur-
named Charlemaine,’ all being emperours, and do compare

accidental greatness, we shall esteem the birth of Tacitus more truly noble than

that of kings. He claimed his descent from the philosophic historian whose

writings will instruct the last generations of mankind. From the assiduous
study of his immortal ancestor he derived the knowledge of the Roman constitu-
tion and of human nature.’—Decline and Fall of Rom. Empire, vol. ii. pp. 35, 36.
Vopiscus records an interesting fact. ‘Cornelium Tacitum scriptorem historiz
Auguste, quod parentem suum eundem diceret, in omnibus bibliothecis conlocari
jussit : et ne lectorum incuria deperiret librum per annos singulos decies scribi
publicitus in evicosarchis jussit et in bibliothecis poni.’-—Hzst. Aug. tom. ii.
p. 612.

* M. Aurelius Probus was emperor from A.D. 276-282. Professor Ramsay
says : ‘History has unhesitatingly pronounced that the character of Probus stands
without a rival in the annals of imperial Rome, combining all the best features of
the best princes who adorned the purple; exhibiting at once the daring valour
and martial skill of Aurelian, the activity and vast conceptions of Hadrian, the
justice, moderation, simple habits, amiable disposition, and cultivated intellect of
Trajan, the Antonines, and Alexander. We find no trace upon record of any
counterbalancing vices or defects.’—Smith’s Dict. of Biogr. sub voc.

> Eutropius gives the following character to Constantine: ‘Vir primo imperii
tempore optimis principibus, ultimo mediis comparandus. Innumerz in eo animi
corporisque virtutes claruerunt ; militaris gloriz appetentissimus, fortuna in bellis
prospera fuit : verum ita, ut non superaret industriam. Nam etiam Gothos, post
civile bellum, varie profligavit, pace ad postremum data ; ingentemque apud _ bar-
baras gentes memoriz gratiam collocavit. Civilibus artibus et studiis liberalibus
deditus : affectator justi amoris, quem omni sibi et liberalitate et docilitate que-
sivit ; sicut in nonnullos amicos dubius, ita in reliquos egregius : nihil occasionum
preetermittens quo opulentiores eos clarioresque preestaret. Multas: leges rogavit,
quasdam ex bono et equo, plerasque superfluas, nonnullas severas ; primusque
urbem nominis sui ad tantum fastigium evehere molitus est ut Romz zemulam
faceret.’— Hist. Rom. lib. x. cap. 7.

σ Gibbon says: ‘ Posterity will confess that the character of Theodosius might
furnish the subject of a sincere and ample panegyric. Every art, every talent
of an useful or even of an innocent nature was rewarded by his judicious liberality ;
and except the heretics, whom he persecuted with implacable hatred, the diffusive
circle of his benevolence was circumscribed only by the limits of the humaf race.
The government of a mighty empire may assuredly suffice to occupy the time and
the abilities of a mortal ; yet the diligent prince, without aspiring to the unsuit-"
able reputation of profound learning, always reserved some moments of his leisure
for the instructive amusement of reading. History, which enlarged his experience,
was his favourite study.’—Decline and Fall of Rom. Empire, vol. iii. pp. 386-7.

ἃ ¢The literary merits of Charlemagne are attested by the formation of schools,
the introduction of arts, the works which were published in his name, and his

112 THE GOVERNOUR.

them with other, whiche lacked or had nat so moche of doc-
trine. Verily they be ferre from good raison, in myne opinion,
whiche couaite to haue their children goodly in stature,
stronge, deliuer,* well synging, wherin trees, beastes, fysshes,
and byrdes, be nat only with them equall, but also ferre do
excede them. And connynge, wherby onely man excelleth
all other creatures in erthe, they reiecte, and accounte un-
worthy to be in their children. What unkinde appetite were it

| [το desyre to be father rather of a pece of flesshe, that can
_onely meue and feele, than of a childe that shulde have the

| ghee ἐς fourme of a man? What so perfectly expresseth
a man as doctrine? Diogines the philosopher seing one
without lernynge syt on a stone, sayde to them that were with
him, beholde where one stone sytteth on an other ;” whiche
wordes, well considered and tried, shall appere to contayne in

‘it wonderfull matter for the approbation of doctrine, wherof a

familiar connection with the subjects and strangers whom he invited to his court to
educate both the prince and people. His own studies were tardy, laborious, and
imperfect ; if he spoke Latin and understood Greek, he derived the rudiments of
knowledge from conversation, rather than from books ; and in his mature age the
emperor strove to acquire the practice of writing, which every peasant now learns
in his infancy. The grammar and logic, the music and astronomy, of the times
were only cultivated as the handmaids of superstition ; but the curiosity of the
human mind must ultimately tend to its improvement, and the encouragement of
learning reflects the purest and most pleasing lustre on the character of Charle-
magne. ’—Decline and Fall of Rom. Empire, vol. vi. p. 172.

* See the Glossary. |

> Sir Thomas Elyot appears to be quoting from memory, and has altogether
missed the point of the story which is told, not of the cynic, but of Aristippus, and
will be found in the life of that philosopher by Diogenes Laertius ; it is as follows :
ἐρωτηθεὶς ὑπό τινος τί αὐτοῦ ὃ υἱὸς ἀμείνων ἔσται παιδευθείς, “ καὶ εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο,
εἶπεν, ἐν γοὺν τῷ θεάτρῷ οὐ καθεδεῖται λίθος ἐπὶ ALOG.’—Diog. Laert. Aristippus,
cap. 4, p. 50, ed. Didot,1850. There is a kind of pun, too, implied in the word λίθος
which is incapable of translation into English. Compare Plato, Hippias Major 292
Ὁ. :---αὐτὸ yap ἔγωγε, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, κάλλος ἐρωτῶ, ὅ τι ἐστὶ, καὶ οὐδέν σοι μᾶλλον γε-
γωνεῖν δύναμαι ἢ εἴ μοι παρεκάθησο λίθος, καὶ οὗτος μυλίας, μήτε ὦτα μήτ᾽ ἐγκέφαλον
ἔχων. The word πέτρους is used in a somewhat similar way in a fragment of
Sotion, νοῷ πέτρος ὃ τῆσδε πιών where πέτρος is said to mean ἀναισθήτος τῇ ψυχῇ. ---
See Westermann, Παραδοξογραφοί, p. 187, ed. 1839.

THE GOVERNOUR. 113
wyse man maye accumulate ineuitable argumentes, whiche I ~
of necessite, to auoide tediousnes, must nedes passe ouer at
this tyme.

CHAPTER XIIL.
The seconde and thirde decay of lernyng amonge gentilmen.

THE seconde occasion wherfore gentylmens children seldome
haue sufficient lernynge is auarice. For where theyr parentes
wyll nat aduenture to sende them farre out of theyr propre
countrayes, partely for feare of dethe, whiche perchance dare
nat approche them at home with theyr father; partely for
expence of money, whiche they suppose wolde be lesse in
theyr owne houses or in a village, with some of theyr tenantes
or frendes; hauyng seldome any regarde to the teacher, whether
he be well lerned or ignorant. For if they hiare a schole
maister to teche in theyr houses, they chiefely enquire with
howe small a salary he will be contented, and neuer do
inserche howe moche good lernynge he hath, and howe amonge
well lerned men he is therin estemed, usinge therin lasse
diligence than in takynge seruantes, whose seruice is of moche
lasse importance, and to a good schole maister is nat in pro-
fite to be compared.* A gentil man, er he take a cooke in to

* This is corroborated by Peacham, who, writing some years later, says, ‘Such
is the most base and ridiculous parsimony of many of our gentlemen (if I may so
terme them) that if they can procure some poore Batcheler of Art from the Uni-
uersitie to teach their children say grace and serue the Cure of an Impropriation,
who, wanting meanes and friends, will be content upon the promise of ten pounds
a yeare at his first comming, to be pleased with fiue ; the rest to be set off in hope
of the next aduouson (which perhaps was sold before the young man was born),
or if it chance to fall in his time, his Ladie or Master tels him, ‘‘ Indeed, Sir, wee
are beholden unto you for your paines, such a liuing is lately fallen, but I had be-
fore made a promise of it to my Butler or Bailiffe for his true and extraordinarie
seruice ;”? when the truth is he hath bestowed it upon himselfe for fourscore or an
hundred peeces, which indeede his man two daies before had fast hold of, but
could not keepe. It is not commonly seene that the most gentlemen will give

I

114 THE GOVERNOUR.

his seruice, he wyll firste diligently examine hym, howe many
sortes of meates, potages, and sauces, he can perfectly make, »
and howe well he can season them, that they may be bothe
pleasant and nourishynge ; yea and if it be but a fauconer,
he wyll scrupulously enquire what skyll he hath in feed-
yng, called diete, and kepyng of his hauke from all sicke-
nes, also how he can reclaime her and prepare her to
flyght. And to suche a cooke or fauconer, whom he findeth
expert, he spareth nat to gyue moche wages with other
bounteous rewardes.* But of a schole maister, to whom he
will committe his childe, to be fedde with lernynge and in-
structed in vertue, whose lyfe shall be the principall monument
of his name and honour, he neuer maketh further enquirie
but where he may haue a schole maister ; and with howe litel
charge; and if one be perchance founden, well lerned, but he
will nat take paynes,.to teache without he may haue a great

better wages and deale mcre bountifully with a fellow who can but teach a dogge
or reclaime an hawke then upon an honest learned and well qualified man to bring
up their children. It may be hence it is that dogges are able to make syllogismes
in the fields, when their young masters can conclude nothing at home, if occasion of
argument or discourse be offered at the table.’—7Zhe Compleat Gentleman, Ὁ. 31.

® We learn from the Household book of the Earl of Northumberland that at
the beginning of the sixteenth century the wages paid quarterly to a clerk of the _
kitchen were 5 marks, and of a falconer, ‘if he be yoman,’ 40 shillings, ‘and if he
be grome,’ 20 shillings (see p. 48). In the same establishment the quarterly stipend
of a chaplain ‘ graduate’ was only 5 marks, and of one ‘ not graduate,’ 40 shillings ;
but while these ‘clerics’ were remunerated at the same rate as the cooks and fal-
coners, it is interesting to find that the services of a schoolmaster teaching grammar
were estimated to be worth 100 shillings. It would seem, indeed, that the clerical
income had remained stationary, while that of other occupations had increased,
for Bishop Fleetwood states in the Chronicon Preciosum that ‘in the council held
at Oxford, 1222, it was decreed that where the churches had no greater revenues
than 5 marks per ann., they should be conferred on none, but such as should con-
stantly reside in person, on the place,’ and he adds ‘a single priest might therefore
subsist on 5 marks, but he could not afford to keep a curate.—Chap. v. p. 107.
Besides their regular wages, the cooks in the royal and other large households
came in for handsome presents. Thus we find in the Privy Purse Expenses of the
Princess Mary this entry :—‘‘ Item geuen to the cooks to their withe at Easter,
xxs.,” the word in italics. signifying an accustomed 266, according to Sir Frederick

} Madden. —p. 275.

THE GOVERNOUR. ἘΠῸῚ

salary, he than speketh nothing more, or els saith, What shall so
᾿ moche wages be gyuen toa schole maister whiche wolde kepe
me two seruantes ?* to whom maye be saide these wordes, that
by his sonne being wel lerned he shall receiue more commo-
. ditie and also worship than by the seruice of a hundred cokes
and fauconers.

The thirde cause of this hyndrance is negligence of
parentes, whiche I do specially note in this poynt ; there haue
bene diuers, as well gentill men as of the nobilitie, that deliting
to haue their sonnes excellent in lernynge haue prouided for
them connynge maysters, who substancially haue taught them
gramer, and very wel instructed them to speake latine
elegantly, wherof the parentes haue taken moche delectation ;
but whan they haue had of grammer sufficient and be comen to |
the age of xiiii yeres, and do approche or drawe towarde the
astate of man, whiche age is called mature or ripe, (wherin
nat onely the saide lernyng continued. by moche experience
_ shal be perfectly digested, and confirmed in perpetuall remem-
brance, but also-more seriouse lernyng contayned in other
lyberall sciences, and also philosophy, wolde than be lerned)
the. parentes, that thinge nothinge regarding, but being suffised |
that their children can onely speke latine proprely, or make
verses with out mater or sentence, they from thens forth do suffre
them to liue in idelnes, or els, putting them to seruice, do, as i
were, banisshe them from all vertuous study or exercise o
that whiche they before lerned; so that we may behold
diuers yonge gentill men, who in their infancie and childe-
hode were wondred at for their aptness to lerning and prompt
speakinge of elegant latine, whiche nowe, beinge men, nat
onely haue forgotten their congruite, (as is the commune

* Ata time when the Lord Chancellor of England received as his salary 100
marks, with a similar sum for the commons of himself and his clerk, making in
all 1331. per annum, Colet offered to the high-master of his school 35/. per
annum, and a house to live in besides. This was practical proof that Colet meant
to secure the services of more than a mere common grammarian.’— 776 Oxford
Reformers, p. 219, 2nd edn.

12 Ἢ

116 THE GOVERNOUR,

worde), and unneth can speake one hole sentence in true
latine, but, that wars is, hath all lernynge in derision, and in
skorne therof wyll, of wantonnesse, speake the moste barber-
ously that they can imagine.*

Nowe some man will require me to shewe myne opinion if
it be necessary that gentilmen shulde after the age of xiiii
yeres continue in studie. And to be playne and trewe
therein, I dare affirme that, if the elegant speking of latin be
nat added to other doctrine, litle frute may come of the tonge;
sens latine is but a naturall speche, and the frute of speche is
wyse sentence, whiche is gathered and made of sondry lern-
ynges.

And who that hath nothinge but langage only may be no
more praised than a popiniay, a pye, or a stare, whan they
speke featly. There be many nowe a dayes in famouse
scholes and uniuersities whiche be so moche gyuen to the
studie of tonges onely, that, whan they write epistles, they seme
to the reder that, like to a trumpet, they make a soune with-
out any purpose, where unto men do herken more for the
noyse than for any delectation that therby is meued. Where-
fore they be moche abused that suppose eloquence to be only
in wordes or coulours of Rhetorike, for, as Tulli saith, what is
so furiouse or mad a thinge as a vaine soune of wordes of
the best sort and most ornate, contayning neither connynge
What elo. Nor sentence ὃ ἢ Undoubtedly very eloquence. is in
quence ἦδ. eyery tonge where any mater or acte done or to be

done_is | expressed in wordes clene, pro Ise, ornate, and

--

® Ascham makes the same complaint. ‘From seven to seventeen,’ he says,
‘young gentlemen commonly be carefully enough brought up, but from seventeen
to seven and twenty (the most dangerous time of all in a man’s life, and most slip-
pery to stay well in), they have commonly the rein of all license in their own
hand, and especially such as do live in the court. And that which is most
to be marvelled at, commonly the wisest and also best men, be found the fondest
fathers in this behalf.’— Works, vol. iii. p. 123, ed. 1864.

» «Quid est enim tam furiosum, quam verborum, vel optimorum atque ornatissi-
morum, sonitus inanis, nulla subjecta sententid, nec scientid?’—Cic. de Oratore, lib.
i, cap. 12.

THE GOVERNOUR. 117

comely + where” Sentences Be 5 so aptly compact that they by
a vertue inexplicable do drawe unto them the mindes and
consent of the “hérers, they beingé't therwith « either perswaded,
meued, or to delectation induced. Also euery man is nat an
oratour that can write an epistle or a flatering oration in latin:
where of the laste, (as god helpe me,) is to moche used. For
a right oratour may nat be without a moche better furniture.
Tulli saienge that to him belongeth the explicating or un-
foldinge of sentence, with a great estimation in gyuing coun-
saile concerninge maters of great importaunce, also to him
appertaineth the steringe and quickning of people languissh-
inge or dispeiringe, and to moderate them that be rasshe and
unbridled.*. Wherfore noble autours do affirme that, in the
firste infancie of the worlde, men wandring like beastes in
woddes and on mountaines, regardinge neither the religion due
unto god, nor the office pertaining unto man, ordred all thing
by bodily strength: untill Mercurius (as Plato supposeth)
or some other man holpen by sapience and eloquence, by
some apt orpropre oration, assembled them to geder and
perswaded to them what commodite was in mutual conuersa-
tion and honest maners.” But yet Cornelius Tacitus ¢,». 79,
describeth an oratour tc be of more excellent qualities, 4 Ογαί.

* ¢Hujus est in dando consilio de maximis rebus cum dignitate explicata
sententia : ejusdem et languentis populi incitatio, et effreenati moderatio.’—Cic. de
Oratore, lib. ii. cap. 9.

b Ἐπειδὴ δὲ 6 ἄνθρωπος θείας μετέσχε μοίρας, πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ συγγέν-
εἰαν ζώων μόιον θεοὺς ἐνόμισε, καὶ ἐπεχείρει βωμούς τε ἱδρύεσθαι καὶ ἀγάλματα θεῶν"
ἔπειτα φωνὴν καὶ ὀνόματα ταχὺ διηρθρώσατο τῇ τέχνῃ, καὶ οἰκήσεις καὶ ἐσθῆτας καὶ
ὑποδέσεις καὶ στρωμνὰς καὶ τὰς ἐκ γῆς τροφὰς εὕρετο. οὕτω δὴ παρεσκευασμένοι κατ᾽
ἀρχὰς ἄνθρωποι ᾧκουν σποράδην, πόλεις δὲ οὔκ ἦσαν. ἀπώλλυντο οὖν ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων
διὰ τὸ πανταχῇ αὐτῶν ἀσθενέστεροι εἶναι, καὶ ἣ δημιουργικὴ τέχνη αὐτοῖς πρὸς μὲν
τροφὴν ἱκανὴ βοηθὸς ἦν, πρὸς δὲ τὸν τῶν θηρίων πόλεμον ἐνδεής" πολιτικὴν γὰρ
τέχνην οὔπω εἶχον, hs μέρος πολεμική. ἐζήτουν δὴ ἀθροίζεσθαι καὶ σώζεσθαι κτίζοντες
πόλεις. ὅτ᾽ οὖν ἀσθροισθεῖεν, ἠδίκουν ἀλλήλους ἅτε οὐκ ἔχοντες τὴν πολιτικὴν τέχνην,
ὥστε πάλιν σκεδαννύμενοι διεφθείροντο. Ζεὺς“ οὖν δείσας περὶ τῷ γένει ἡμῶν, μὴ ἀπόλοιτο
πᾶν, Ἑρμῆν πέμπει ἄγοντα εἰς ἀνθρώπους αἰδῶ τὲ καὶ δίκην, ty’ εἶεν πόλεων κόσμοι τε
καὶ δεσμοὶ φιλίας συναγωγοί.--- ῬΙαίο, Protagoras, cap. xii. Compare with this ac-
count of the origin of society the idea of the gradual development of communities
at the beginning of the 3rd book of ‘the Laws,’

118 THE GOVERNOUR.

e
saynge that, an oratour is he that can or may speke or raison ἘΝ
in euery question sufficiently elegantly : and to persuade pro- .
prely, accordyng to the dignitie of the thyng that is spoken
of, the oportunitie of time, and pleasure of them that >
be herers.* Tulli, before him, affirmed that, a man
may nat be an oratour heaped with praise, but if
he haue gotten the knowlege of all thynges and artes
of greattest importaunce.” And howe shall an oratour
speake of that thynge that he hath nat lerned? And’bicause
there may be nothynge but it may happen to come in praise
or dis praise, in consultation or iugement, in accusation or de-
fence: therforé an oratour, by others instriction perfectly
furnisshed, may, in euery mater and lernynge, commende or
dispraise, exhorte or dissuade, accuse or. defende eloquently,
as occasion hapneth.° Wherfore in as moche as in an oratour
is required to be a heape of all maner of lernyng : whiche of
some is called the worlde of science, of other the circle of
doctrine, whiche is in one worde of greke Excyclopedia:%

® «Sed is est orator, qui de omni questione pulchré et ornaté et ad persuaden-
dum apté dicere, pro dignitate rerum, ad utilitatem temporum, cum voluptate
audientium possit.’—Tac. de Oratoribus, cap. 30.

> «Ac mea quidem sententia nemo poterit esse omni laude cumulatus orator,
nisi erit omnium.serum magnarum atque artium scientiam consecutus.’—Cic. de
Oratore, lib, i. cap. 6.

¢ Wilson, following the order of Quintilian, says there are five things to be
considered in an oratour—Invention of Matter, Disposition of the same, Elocution,
Memory, and Utterance ; and concludes his dissertation on this subject as follows :
‘Thus we see that euery one of these must goe together, to make a perfite oratour,
and that the lack of one is a hinderance of the whole, and that as well all maie be
wantyng as one, if wee looke to haue an absolute oratour.’—Arte of Rhetorigue, : ᾿
Ρ. 7. , 4

4 This expression is used by Quintilian, who says, ‘ Orbis ille doctrine, quam . a
Greeci ἐγκύκλιον παιδείαν vocant.’—Zustit. Vrat. lib. i. cap. 10, 81. Gentilis depre-
cates the acquirement of such ‘a heap of all manner of learning’ by an ambassador. - 3
‘Nec oportere Nicephoro auscultari censeo, qui ἢ legato rerum omnium, omniumque : ᾿
linguarum cognitionem, et quidem excellentem requirit. Que igitur illarum
disciplinarum (ostende, qui adseris de ccelestibus, Plato) in legatione utilitas? Sed
(ut diximus) nec possibilis est comparatio: egregi¢ enim et vere illic Cicero:
** Quibus in rebus summa ingenia philosophorum plurimo cum labore consumpta
ntelligimus, eas βίου! aliquas parvas res oratori attribuere magna amentia est.”

THE GOVERNOUR. 119

therfore at this day may be founden but a very few oratours.
For they that come in message from princes be, for honour,
named nowe oratours, if they be in any degre of worshyp:?*
onely poore men hauyng equall or more of lernyng beyng
called messagers. Also they whiche do onely teache rhe-
torike, whiche is the science wherby is taught an artifyciall
fourme of spekyng,® wherin is the power to persuade, moue,’

Sed et mediocriter doctos magnos in republica, multosque viros commemorant, et
nosscimus fuisse tales, qualisnumquam ullus hujusntodi enciclopedicus extitit. Vertm
et alibi disputatum ἃ nobis est plenius adversus istos, qui ovdem ubique crepant
scientiarum, contra quos mirum quam multus szepeque est Xenophon, et in hoc
maximé nostro Politices argumento.’—De Legationtbus, lib. iii. cap. 1.

* Albericus Gentilis, in his treatise, De Legationibus, published in 1585, gives
a reason why noblemen should be employed in embassies. ‘ Virum ignobilem posse
nobilis, adeoque principis personam preestare, vix est verisimile. Nobilitas enim
ipsa est ille stimulus, quo ad res preeclaras urgemur ; et plebeium genus, quin abjecté
se et humiliter non gerat, rarum est.’ lib, iii. cap. 4. And as a principal qualification he
says : ‘ Oratoriis excultum virtutibus legatum desideramus, et nomen ipsum oratoris

“commune desiderat.’ Latin was naturally the language of diplomacy in the sixteenth
century, and therefore Gentilis says : ‘ Et nunc quidem si legatus linguam Latinam
teneret bené prospectum ei opinor, quoniam longé hec est hodie in universa Europa
notior quam fuerit Graeca.’ A knowledge of modern languages was, however, desi-
rable. ‘Sitamen et eas cognosceret, gue nunc vivunt,ubi futurus legatus est, magis
atque magis probarem, nam, ut alia omittam, afficere quemadmodum volet poterit
legatus regem sané certius, si hujus ipsum patrio sermone alloquitur.’ —U6i supra,
cap. 7. Abraham de Wicquefort, whose elaborate treatise on the functions of ambas-
sadors was translated into English by Mr. Digby at the beginning of the eighteenth
century, tells us that the quality of an orator was considered so indispensable for the
purposes of diplomacy, that when ambassadors of noble birth were found to be
deficient in that respect they had an ora¢or allowed them, who made a speech for
them and pronounced it in their presence. He says, .‘I cannot tell whether the
men of letters are fitter for embassy than tradesmen, but I shall not scruple to say
that an Embassador is not better formed in the college than in the shop. When
I say men of letters I would be understood to mean them who have contracted too
great a familiarity with books, who are too much wedded to the prejudicate
opinions of the Doctors, and have more reading than good sense: in fine, to say
all in one word, who are either pedants by profession or have pedantick senti-
ments.’— The Embassador, p. 50, ed. 1716.

» The earliest treatise on Rhetoric in the English language is Zhe Arte or
Crafte of Rhethoryke, by Leonard Cox, who dedicated it ‘to the lorde Hughe
Faryngton, Abbot of Redynge.’ It was published, according to Hallam, about
1524, and it appears from the preface that the author was a tutor or master in the
grammar school of Reading. This was followed by a larger work by Thomas

120 THE GOVERNOUR.

and delyte,* or by that science onely do speke or write, with-
out any adminiculation of other sciences, ought to be named
rhetoriciens,” declamatours, artificiall spekers, (named in
Greeke Logodedali*), or any other name than oratours.
Semblably they that make verses, expressynge therby none
other lernynge but the craft of versifyeng, be nat of auncient
writers named poetes, but onely called versifyers.4 For the
name of a poete, wherat nowe, (specially in this realme,) men
haue suche indignation, that they use onely poetes and poetry
in the contempte of eloquence,® was in auncient tyme in hygh

Wilson, in 1553. The latter gives the following definition of his subject:
‘Rhetorique is an Arte to set forthe by utteraunce of wordes, matter at large, or
(as Cicero doth saie) it is learned, or rather an artificiall declaration of the mynde,
in the handelyng of any cause, called in contention, that maie through reason
largely be discussed.’—P. 1.

« «Three thynges are required of an orator : to teache, to delight, and to per-
suade.’—Arte of Rhetorigue, p. 2.

» Wilson was keenly alive to the pedantic character of the scholarship of his
day. ‘I knowe,’ he says in his quaint way, ‘them that thinke Rhetorizue to
stande wholie upon darke woordes, and he that can catche an ynke horne terme by
the taile, him thei coumpt to bee a fine Englisheman and a good Rheforician.’—
Arte of Rhetorique, p. 165, ed. 1584.

¢ This phrase is used by Plato in the Pheedrus, cap. li. : καὶ πίστωσιν οἶμαι καὶ
ἐπίπίστωσιν λέγειν τόν γε βέλτιστον λογοδαίδαλον Βυζάντιον ἄνδρα. PAI. τὸν xpno dv
λέγεις Θεόδωρον ; a passage which is referred to by Cicero in his Οχαΐογ, cap. 12,
as follows: ‘ Heec tractasse Thrasymachum Chalcedonium primum et Leontinum
ferunt Gorgiam ; Theodorum inde Byzantium, multosque alivs, quos λογοδαιδάλους
appellat in Pheedro Socrates.’ And also by Quintilian, who says, ‘ Et Theodorus
Byzantius, ex iis et ipse, quos Plato appellat Aoyoda:ddAous.’—Jnstit. Orat. lib.
111, cap. i. § 11. ;

4 So Aneas Sylvius, in his 7ractatus de Liberorum Educatione, after mentioning
Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, and Statius, says : ‘ Ceeteri qui carmine seribunt heroico, remo-
tissimi ab his sunt, versificatorumque magis quam poetarum nomine sunt appellandi.’
— Opera, p. 984, ed. 1551. Puttenham, however, applies the term to ‘translators,’
as distinguished from poets. “ Euen so the uery Poet makes and contriues out of
his owne braine both the verse and matter of his poeme, and not by any foreine
copie or example, as doth the translator; who, therefore, may well be sayda
versifer, but not a poet.’-— The Arte of English Poesie, lib. i. chap.i. Quintilian,
who calls Cornelius Severus ‘versificator quam poeta melior,’ may perhaps be the
ancient writer referred to by the author.

° Even fifty years after ‘the Governour’ was published, Sir Philip Sidney, in
his Afologie for Poetrie, laments that he is obliged ‘to make a pittiful defence of

THE GOVERNOUR. C2t

estimation: in so moche that all wysdome was supposed to
be therein included, and poetry was the first philosophy that
euer was knowen:* wherby men from their childhode were

poore Poetry, which from almost the highest estimation of learning is fallen to be
the laughing stocke of children.’ He is driven to inquire ‘why England (the
Mother of excellent mindes) should bee growne so hard a step-mother to Poets,
who certainly in wit ought to passe all other ;’ and complains ‘that Poesie thus em-
braced in all other places should onely finde in our time a hard welcome in Eng-
land. I thinke the very earth lamenteth it, and therfore decketh our soyle with
fewer laurels than it was accustomed.’ Puttenham, writing about the same time,
says: ‘But in these dayes (although some learned Princes may take delight
in them) yet uniuersally it is not so, For as well Poets as Poesie are de-
spised, and the name become of honorable infamous, subiect to scorne and
derision, and rather a reproch than a prayse to any that useth it; for com-
monly who so is studious in th’ Arte or shewes him selfe excellent in it, they
call him in disdayne a phantasticall: and a light headed or phantasticall man
(by conversion) they call a Poet. And this proceedes through the barbarous
ignoraunce of the time and pride of many gentlemen and others, whose grosse
heads not being brought up or acquainted with any excellent Arte, nor able to
contriue or in manner conceiue any matter of subtiltie in any businesse or science
they doe deride and scorne it in all others as superfluous knowledges and vayne
sciences, and whatsoeuer deuise be of rare inuention they terme it phantasticall,
construing it to the worst side : and among men such as be modest and graue, and
of little conuersation, nor delighted in the busie life and vayne ridiculous actions
of the popular, they call him in scorne a Philosopher or Poet, as much to say as a
phantasticall man very iniuriously (God wot) and to the manifestation of their own
ignoraunce, not making difference betwixt termes.’—A7te of Eng. Poesie, lib. i.
chap. viii., and, strangely enough, he seems to consider that poets were in
higher estimation at the beginning of the century, for he mentions Sternhold and
‘one Gray’ as enjoying especial favour under Henry the Eighth.

* Puttenham uses very similar language. He says: ‘So as the Poets were
also from the beginning the best perswaders, and their eloquence the - first
Rethoricke of the world. Then, forasmuch as they were the first obseruers of all
naturall causes and effects in the things generable and corruptible, and from thence
mounted up to search after the celestiall courses and influences, and yet penetrated
further to know the diuine essences and substances separate, as is sayd before, they
were the first Astronomers and Philosophists and Metaphisicks, Finally, because
they did altogether endeuor them selues to reduce the life of man to a certaine
method of good maners, and made the first differences betweene vertue and vice,
and ‘then tempered all these knowledges and skilles with the exercise of a delecta-
ble musicke by melodious instruments, which withall serued them to delight their
hearers and to call the people together by admiration to a plausible and vertuous
conversation, therefore were they the first Philosophers Ethick, and the first artificial
musicians of the world, Such was Linus, Orpheus, Amphion, and Museus, the

122 THE GOVERNOUR.

brought to the raison howe to lyue well, lernynge therby nat
onely maners and naturall affections, but also the wonderfull
werkes of nature, mixting serious mater with thynges that
were pleasaunt: as it shall be manifest to them that
shall be so fortunate to rede the noble warkes of Plato
and Aristotle, wherin he shall fynde the autoritie of
poetes frequently alleged: ye and that more is, in poetes
was supposed to be science misticall and inspired, and
therfore in latine they were called Vates, which worde
Ci. Tusc, Signifyeth as moche as prophetes.* And therfore
Quest. i. TTulli in his Tusculane questyons supposeth that a
poete can nat abundantly expresse verses sufficient and com-
plete, or that his eloquence may flowe without labour wordes

wel sounyng and plentuouse, without celestiall instinction, _

whiche is also by Plato ratified.°

most ancient Poets and Philosophers of whom there is left any memorie by the™

prophane writers.’—Arte of English Poesie, lib. i. chap. iv.

® Sir Philip Sidney says: ‘Among the Romans a Poet was called Vates,
which is as much as a Diuiner, Fore-seer, or Prophet, as by his conioyned wordes
Vaticinium and Vaticinari is manifest: so heauenly a title did that excellent
people bestow upon this hart-rauishing knowledge. . . For that same exquisite
obseruing of number and measure in words, and that high-flying liberty of conceit
proper to the poet, did seeme to haue some dyuine force in it.’—Afologie for
Poetrie, p. 23. Ν

> «Ut ego aut poetam grave plenumque carmen sine ccelesti aliquo mentis
instinctu putem fundere, aut eloquentiam sine quadam vi majore fluere, abundantem
sonantibus, verbis, uberibusque sententiis.’—Cic. Zuse. Quest. lib. i. cap. 26.
Compare with the above passage De Oratore, lib. ii. cap. 46: ‘Szepe enim audivi
poetam bonum neminem (id quod a Democrito et Platone in scriptis relictum esse
dicunt) sine inflammatione animorum existere posse, et sine quodam afflatu quasi
furoris.’

© Πάντες γὰρ of τε τῶν ἐπῶν ποιηταὶ of ἀγαθοὶ obk ἐκ τέχνης, GAN ἔνθεοι ὄντες
καὶ κατεχόμενοι, πάντα ταῦτα τὰ καλὰ λέγουσι ποιήματα, καὶ οἱ μελοποιοὶ οἱ ἀγαθοὶ
ὡσαύτως, ὥσπερ οἱ κορυβαντιῶντες οὐκ ἔμφρονες ὄντες ὀρχοῦνται, οὕτω καὶ οἱ μελο-
ποιοὶ ovk ἔμφρονες ὄντες τὰ καλὰ μέλη ταῦτα ποιοῦσιν, ἄλλ᾽ ἐπειδὰν ἐμβῶσιν εἰς τὴν
ἁρμονίαν καὶ εἰς τὸν ῥυθμόν, καὶ βακχεύουσι καὶ κατεχόμενοι, ὥσπερ αἱ βάκχαι ἀρύτον-
ται ἐκ τῶν ποταμῶν μέλι καὶ γάλα κατεχόμεναι, ἔμφρονες δὲ οὖσαι οὔ, καὶ τῶν μελο-
ποιῶν ἣ ψυχὴ τοῦτο ἐργάζεται, ὅπερ αὐτοὶ λέγουσι... .. κοῦφον γὰρ χρῆμα ποιητής
ἐστι καὶ πτηνὸν καὶ ἱερόν, καὶ οὐ πρότερον οἷος τε ποιεῖν, πρὶν ἂν ἔνθεός τε γένηται
καὶ ἔκφρων καὶ ὃ νοῦς μηκέτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐνῇ " ἕως δ᾽ ἄν τουτὶ ἔχῃ τὸ κτῆμα, ἀδύνατος
πᾶς ποιεῖν ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος καὶ xpnopwdeiv.—Plato, Jom, cap. v.

THE GOVERNOUR. 123

But sens we be nowe occupied in the defence of Poetes, it
shall nat be incongruent to our mater to shewe what profite
may be taken by the diligent reding of auncient poetes, con-
trary to the false opinion, that nowe rayneth, of them that
suppose that in the warkes of poetes is contayned nothynge
but baudry, (suche is their foule worde of reproche,) and un-
profitable leasinges.*

But first I wyll interprete some verses of Horace, wherin he
expresseth: the office of poetes, and after wyll I resorte to a
more playne demonstration of some wisdomes and counsayles
contayned in some verses of poetes. Horace, in his seconde
booke of epistles, sayth in this wyse or moche lyke :

The poete facyoneth by some plesant mene Hora.
The speche of children tendre and unsure : ep. lib.
Pullyng their eares from wordes unclene, 11. ep la.

ad Augus-

Gyuing to them preceptes that are pure : tum

Rebukying enuy and wrathe if it dure :

Thinges wel done he can by example commende :
The nedy and sicke he dothe also his cure

To recomfort, if aught he can amende.>

But they whiche be ignoraunt in poetes wyll perchaunce
obiecte, as is their maner, agayne these verses, sayeng that in
Therence and other that were writers of comedies, also Ouide,
Catullus, Martialis, and all that route of lasciuious poetes that
wrate epistles and ditties of loue, some called in latine Elegie

® So half a century later, Sir Philip Sidney tells us, the critics said, ‘How
much it (poetry) abuseth men’s wit, trayning it to wanton sinfulnes and lustfull
loue : the Comedies rather teach than reprehend amorous conceits ; the Lirick is
larded with passionate sonnets. The Elegiack weepes the want of his mistresse,
and euen to the Heroical Cupid hath ambitiously climed.’"—Afologie for Poetrie,
Ρ. 53-
Ὁ ‘Os tenerum pueri balbumque poeta figurat ;
Torquet ab obsczenis jam nunc sermonibus aurem ;
Mox etiam pectus preceptis format amicis,
Asperitatis et invidize corrector et irze ;
Recté facta refert ; orientia tempora notis
Instruit exemplis ; inopem solatur et zgrum.’
Hor. fist. lib. ii. i, 126-131.

124 _ THE GOVERNOUR.

and some Ep~igrammata, is nothyng contayned but incitation

to lechery.*
First, comedies, whiche they suppose to be a doctrinall of

rybaudrie,® they be undoutedly a picture or as it were a mir-
rour of man’s life,° wherin iuell is nat taught but discouered ;

* Thus it is related of Ignatius Loyola, by his biographer, that ‘in scholis
Terentium explicari, (ni perpurgatus esset,) quamquam optimum Latinitatis auc-
torem et Romanz Comeediz principem, vetuit nominatim, quod eum videlicet
parum verecundum ac parum pudicum arbitraretur. Noluit igitur eA lectione
puerorum animos imbui ne plus moribus noceret quam prodesset ingeniis,’—
Maffei in Vitd Zgnatit, lib. iii. cap. 8, p. 432, ed. 1590. And Atneas Sylvius,
in an essay entitled De Liberorum Educatione, which he wrote A.D. 1450,
and dedicated to Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, says of Ovid,
‘Ubique tristis, ubique dulcis est, in plerisque tamen locis nimium lascivus.’
He recommends Horace, but adds ‘sunt tamen in eo quedam que tibi nec
legere voluerim, nec interpretari;’ and in marking out a course of study for
boys he says, ‘Martialis perniciosus quamvis floridus et ornatus, ita tamen
spinis densus est ut legi rosas absque punctione non sinat. Zlegiam qui scribunt
omnes puero negari debent, nimium enim sunt molles, Tibullus, Propertius, Catul-
lus, et quee translata est apud nos Sapho, raro namque non amatoria scribunt,
desertosque cone te amores, Amoveantur igitur, aut ad firmius etatis robur
reserventur.’ It is curious to observe the consideration, which induces him to
except Juvenal from this category : ‘Juvenalis alto ratis ingenio pleraque nimis
licenter locutus est in aliquibus autem satyris, tam religiosum se prebuit ut nostre
fidei doctoribus in nullo cedere judicatur.’ — Opera, p. 984, ed.1551. Ludovicus Vive-
would find consolation even in the loss of some of the elegiac poets. ‘ Imo vero
amissa sunt tot philosophorum et sacrorum autorum monimenta; et grave erit ac
non ferendum facinus, si Tibullus i aut Ars Amandi Nasonis?’—De Tra.
dendis Disciplinis, p. 474, ed. 1555.

» John Heywood, who was beloved and rewarded by Henry the Eighth for his
buffooneries, has been styled the first writer of English comedies ; but Warton points
out that this distinction can only be conferred upon him by those who ‘confound
comedies with moralities and interludes.’ His comedies, most of which appeared
before 1534, are ‘destitute of plot, humour, or character, and give us no very
high opinion of the festivity of this agreeable companion. They ‘consist of low
incident and the language of ribaldry.’—Hist. of Engi. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 86.
To Udall, the head-master of Eton, must be attributed the production of the first
real comedy in the English language, which was certainly in existence, as Mr.
Collier points out, in 1551, if not earlier. (/7ist. of Dram. Poetry, vol. ii. p. 445.)
For though Wood in his ‘Athenze Oxon.’ mentions a comedy called ‘ Piscator,
or the Fisher Caught,’ written by one John Hoker about 1540, Warton suspects
this to have been written in Latin. (Hist. of Engl. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 83.)

* Ludovicus Vives gives a sketch of the rise and development of comedy,
which, as coming from the pen of a contemporary, is worth quoting: ‘ Venit in

Abus

THE GOVERNOUR. 125

to the intent that men beholdynge the promptnes of youth
unto vice, the snares of harlotts and baudes laide for yonge
myndes, the disceipte of seruantes, the chaunces of fortune
contrary to mennes expectation, they beinge therof warned

. may prepare them selfe to resist or preuente occasion. Sem-

blably remembring the wisedomes, aduertisements, counsailes,
dissuasion from vice, and other profitable sentences, most
eloquently and familiarely shewed in those comedies, un-
doubtedly there shall be no litle frute out of them gathered.*

scenam poesis populo ad spectandum congregato, et ibi sicut pictor tabulam. pro-
ponit multitudini spectandam, ita poeta imaginem.quandam vite, ut merito Plu-
tarchus de his dixerit, poema esse picturam loquentem, et picturam poema tacens,
ita magister est populi, et pictor, et poeta. _Corrupta est hzec ars quod ab insecta-
tione flagitiorum et scelerum transiit ad obsequium prave affectionis, ut quemecunque
odisset poeta, in eum linguze ac styli intemperantia abuteretur. Cui injuriz atque
insolentiz itum est obviam, primum 4 divitibus potentia sua et opibus: hinc
legibus, quibus cavebatur, ne quis in alium noxium carmen pangeret. Tum
involucris coepit tegi fabula: paulatim res tota ad ludicra, et in vulgum plausibilia
est traducta ad amores, ad fraudes meretricum, ad perjuria lenonis, ad militis
ferociam, et glorias : que quum dicerentur cuneis refertis puerorum, puellarum,
mulierum, turba opificum hominum et rudium, mirum ‘quam vitiabantur mores
civitatis admonitione illa et quasi incitatione ad flagitia ; preesertim quum comici
semper catastrophem letam adderent amoribus et impudicitie. Mam si guando
addidissent tristes exitus deterruissent ab tis actibus spectatores, quibus eventus esset
paratus acerbissimus. ΤῊ quo sapientior fuit qui nostra lingua scripsit Celestinam
tragi-comeediam. Nam progressui amorum et illis gaudiis voluptatis exitum annexuit
amarissimum, nempe amatorum, lenz, lenonum, casus et neces violentas. Neque
vero ignorarunt olim fabularum scriptores turpia esse que scriberent et moribus
juventutis damnosa. ... . Recentiores in linguis vernaculis multo, mea quidem
sententia, excellunt veteres in argumento deligendo. Nulle fere exhibentur nunc
publica fabule que non delectationem utilitate conjungant.’—De Causis Corrupt.
Artium, p. 367, ed. 1555. The play referred to by Vives is ‘evidently the same
as that mentioned in the following passage, which occurs in a treatise called «A
Second and Third Blast of Retrait from Plaies and Theaters,’ published in 1580 ;
‘The nature of these comedies are for the most part after one manner of nature,
like the 7vagical Comedie of Calistus, where the bawdresse Scelestina inflamed the
maiden Melibeia with her sorceries.’—Zunglish Drama and Stage, by W. C.
Hazlitt, p. 143, ed. 1869.

5. Sir P. Sidney says: ‘Comedy is an imitation of the common errors of our
life, which he representeth in the most ridiculous and scornefull sort that may be.
So as it is impossible that any beholder can be content to be such a one. Now,
as in Geometry, the oblique must bee knowne as wel as the right, and in Arith-

126 THE GOVERNOUR. :

And if the vices in them expressed shulde be cause that
myndes of the reders shulde be corrupted: than by the
same argumente nat onely entreludes in englisshe, but also
sermones, wherin some vice is declared, shulde be to the
beholders and herers like occasion to encreace sinners.*

metick the odde as well as the euen, so in the actions of our life who seeth not the
filthiness of euil wanteth a great foile to perceiue the beauty of vertue. This doth
the Comedy handle sv in our priuate and domestical matters as with hearing it we
get as it were an experience what is to be looked for οἵ. ἃ nigardly Demea: of a
crafty Davus: of a flattering Gato: of a vaine glorious 7hraso: and not onely
to know what effects are to be expected, but to know who be such by the signi-
fying badge giuen them by the comedian. And little reason hath any man to say
that men. learne euill by seeing it so set out: sith as I sayd before, there isno man
liuing but by the force trueth hath in nature, no sooner seeth these men play their
parts but wisheth them in Pistrinwm : although perchance the sack of his owne
faults lye so behinde hys back that he seeth not himselfe daunce the same measure,
wherto yet nothing can more open his eyes then to finde his own actions con-
temptibly set forth.’—Aologie for Poetrie.

* That sermons of the period were often of a questionable character appears
pretty plain from Burnet’s account of Bonner’s ‘Injunctions,’ which were
published in 1542. ‘These Injunctions,’ he says, ‘especially when they are
considered at their full length, will give great light into the temper of men
at that time, and particularly inform us of the design and method in preach-
ing as it was then set forward ; concerning which the reader will not be ill-pleased
to receive some information. In the time of popery there had been few sermons
but in Lent, for their discourses on the holydays were rather panegyrics on the
saint, or the vain magnifying of some of their relics which were laid up in such
or such places. In Lent there was a more solemn and serious way of preaching ;
and the friers, who chiefly maintained their credit by their performances at
that time, used all the force of their skill and industry to raise the people into heats
by passionate and affecting discourses. And the design of their sermons was rather
to raise a present heat, which they knew afterwards how to manage, than to
work a real reformation on their hearers.’—/ist. of the Reformation, vol. i.
p. 500, ed. 1865. One of the Injunctions above referred to expressly forbade the
acting of plays cr interludes ‘in the churches.’ Another directed ‘That there
should be no sermons preached that had been made within these two hundred or
three hundred years. But when they preached they should explain the whole
Gospel and Epistle for the day, according to the mind of some good doctor
allowed by the Church of England. And chiefly to insist on those places that
might stir up the people to good works ard to prayer, and to explain the use of
the ceremonies of the Church. That there should be no railing in sermons; but
the preacher should calmly and discreetly set forth the excellencies of virtue and
the vileness of sin, and should also explain the prayers for that day, that so the
people might pray with one heart. And should teach them the use of the sacra- "

THE GOVERNOUR. 127

And that by comedies good counsaile is ministred: it
appiereth by the sentence of Parmeno, in the seconde comedie
of Therence

In this thinge I triumphe in myne owne conceipte, Therent.
That I have founden for all yonge men the way - in Lune.
Howe they of harlottes shall knowe the deceipte,

Their wittes, their maners, that therby they may

Them perpetually hate ; for so moche as they

Out of theyr owne houses be fresshe and delicate,

Fedynge curiousely ; at home all the daye
Lyuinge beggarly in moste wretched astate.*

There be many mo words spoken whiche I purposely
‘omitte to translate, nat withstandynge the substance of the
hole sentence is herin comprised. But nowe to come to other
poetes, what may be better saide than is written by Plautus in
his firste comedie? ν

Verily Vertue dothe 81} thinges excelle. Plautus in
For if libertie, helthe, lyvyng and substance, Amphit.
Our countray, our parentes and children do well A lc.

log tur.

It hapneth by vertue ; she doth all aduance.
Vertue hath all thinge under gouernaunce,

ments, particularly of the mass, but should avoid the reciting of fables or stories for
» which no good writer could be vouched.’— Ibid. Wilson, in his Arte of Rhethoryke,
throws some light on this subject. He says: ‘Euen these auncient Preacher
must now and then plaie the fooles in the pulpit to serue the tickle eares οὗ their
fleting audience, or els they are like sometymes to preache to the bare walles,’
p. 3. ed. 1584.
x ‘Id vero est, quod ego mihi puto palmarium,

Me reperisse, quo modo adolescentulus-

Meretricum ingenia et mores posset noscere ;

Mature ut cum cognorit, perpetuo oderit.

Quze dum foris sunt, nihil videtur mundius ;

Nec magis compositum quicquam, nec magis elegans :

Que, cum amatore suo cum ccenant, liguriunt.

Harum videre ingluviem, sordes, inopiam ;

Quam inhonestz solze sint domi, atque avidee cibi ;

Quo pacto ex jure hesterno panem atrum vorent ;

Nosse omnia hzec, salus est adolescentulis.’

Ter. Zunuch, act v. sc. iv. 1. 8-18.

128 THE GOVERNOUR. .

And in whom of vertue is-founden great plentie,
Any thinge that is good may neuer be deintie.*

Also QOuidius, that semeth to be moste of all poetes
lasciuious, in his mooste wanton bokes hath righte commend-
able and noble sentences ; as for proufe therof I will recite
some that I haue taken at aduenture,

Ouidius Time is in medicine if it shall profite ;
de reme. Wyne gyuen out of tyme may he anoyaunce.
etree A man shall irritate vice if he prohibite

Whan tyme is nat mete unto his utterance.
Therfore, if thou yet by counsaile arte recuperable,
Flee thou from idlenesse and alway be stable.

Martialis, whiche, for his dissolute wrytynge, is mooste
seldome radde of men of moche grauitie, hath nat with-
standynge many commendable sentences and right wise
counsailes, as amonge diuers I will reherce one whiche is first
come to my remembrance.

Martialis If thou wylte eshewe bytter aduenture,
li, xi, And auoide the gnawynge of a pensifull harte,
ad Fulium. — Sette in no one persone all holy thy pleasure,
The lasse ioy shalte thou haue but the lasse shalt thott smarte.°

᾿ ‘Virtus preemium est optimum : .
Virtus omnibus rebus anteit profecto.
Libertas, salus, vita, res, parentes,
Patria et prognati tutantur, servantur :
Virtus omnia in se habet: omnia assunt bona, quem penes est
virtus.’—Plaut. Amphitruo, act ii. sc. ii. 1. 17-21.

» ‘Temporis ars medicina fere est : data tempore prosunt,
Et data non apto tempore vina nocent.
Quin etiam accendas vitia, irritesque vetando ;
Temporibus si non aggrediare suis.
Ergo, ‘ubi visus eris ποβίγε medicabilis arti,
Fac monitis fugias otia prima meis.’—Ovid. Rem. Amor. 131-136.

‘ ‘ Si vitare velis acerba quedam,
Et tristes animi cavere morsus,
Nulli te facias nimis sodalem.
Gaudebis, minus, ‘et minus dolebis.’
Martial. Zpigram, lib. xii. 34.

THE GOVERNOUR. 129

ΠῚ coulde recite a great nombre of semblable good sentences
out of these and other wanton poets, who in the latine do
expresse them incomparably with more grace and de-
lectation to the reder than our englisshe tonge may yet

comprehende.* :

Wherfore sens good and wise mater may be picked out of
these poetes, it were no reason, for some lite mater that is in
their verses, to abandone therefore al their warkes, no more
than it were to forbeare or prohibite a man to come into
a faire gardein, leste the redolent sauours of swete herbes
and floures shall meue him to wanton courage, or leste in
gadringe good and holsome herbes he may happen to be
stunge with a nettile. No wyse man entreth in to a gardein
but he sone espiethe good herbes from nettiles, and treadeth
the nettiles under his feete whiles he gadreth good herbes.
Wherby he taketh no damage, or if he be stungen he
maketh lite of it and shortly forgetteth it. Semblablye if
he do rede wanton mater mixte with wisedome, he putteth
the warst under foote and sorteth out the beste, or, if his
courage be stered or prouoked, he remembreth the litel
pleasure and gret detriment that shulde ensue of it, and

* Puttenham has a higher appreciation of his own language. ‘If th’ art of
Poesie,’ he says, ‘ be but a skill appertaining to utterance, why may not the same
be with us as wel as with them, our language being no lesse copious, pithie, and
significatiue than theirs, our conceipts the same, and our wits no lesse apt to de-
uise and imitate than theirs were? If, againe, Art be but a certaine order of rules
prescribed by reason and gathered by experience, why should not Poesie be a
vulgar Art with us as well as with the Greeks and Latines, our language admitting
no fewer rules and nice diuersities than theirs? But, peradventure, moe by a
peculiar, which our speech hath in many things differing from theirs: and yet in the
generall points of that Art allowed to go in common with them: so as if one point
perchance which is their feete whereupon their measures stand, and, in deede, is
all the beautie of their Poesie, and which feete we haue not, nor as yet neuer went
about to frame, (the nature of our language and wordes not permitting it,)
we haue in stead thereof twentie other curious points in that skill more than
they euer had, by reason of our rime and tunable concords or symphonie, which
they neuer obserued. Poesie, therefore, may be an Art in our vulgar, and
that verie methodicall and commendable.’—TZhe Arte of English Poesie, lib. i.
chap. ii,

K

130 THE GOVERNOUR.

withdrawynge his minde to some other studie or exercise
shortly forgetteth it.

And therfore amonge the iewes, though it were prohibited
to children untill they came to rype yeres to reade the bokes

of Genesis, of the iuges, Cantica Canticorum, and some parte.

of the boke of Ezechiel the prophete, for that in them was
contayned some matter whiche moughte happen to incense
the yonge mynde. Wherin were sparkes of carnall con-
cupiscence, yet after certayne yeres of mennes ages it was
lefull for euery man to rede and diligently studie those warkes.*

* Jerome, in the preface to his commentaries upon Ezekiel, says: ‘ Aggrediar
Ezechielem prophetam cujus dificultatem Hebrzeorum probat traditio. Nam nisi
quis apud eos zetatem sacerdotalis ministerii, id est, tricesimum annum impleverit,
nec principia Geneseos nec Canticum Canticorum, nec hujus voluminis exordium et
jinem \egere permittitur : ut ad perfectam scientiam et mysticos intellectus plenum
humane nature tempus accedat.’—-Ogera, tom. iv, p. 434. Ed.1571. Rome,
It will be seen from this that the author has interpolated the book of Judges amongst
the prohibited writings, Jerome making no mention of it, and that he has assigned
a totally different reason for such prohibition to that given by the father. Mr.
Horne says: ‘ Ezekiel is more vehement than Jeremiah in reproving the sins
of his fellow-countrymen, and abounds more in visions, which render some
passages of his book exceedingly difficult to be understood.’—Jntrod. to Old
Test. p. 829. ‘It is remarkable,’ says Professor Bush, ‘that Daniel is excluded
from the number of prophets, and that his writings, with the rest of the Ha-
giographa, were not publicly read in the Synagogues, as the Law and the Prophets
were. This is ascribed to the singular minuteness with which he foretold the coming
of the Messiah before the destruction of the city, and the apprehension of
the Jews lest the public reading of his predictions should lead any to embrace the
doctrines of Christianity.’—/Votes on Genesis, Introduction, p. 8. It is not unlikely
that some such ‘apprehension’ may have had as much to do with the prohibition
mentioned by Jerome in the case of Ezekiel, as the intrinsic difficulty of the inter-
pretation, inasmuch as a portion of his book is filled with denunciations against
the Jewish people ; and he foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and its inhabi-
tants. With regard to Canticles, Origen says: ‘ Aiunt enim observari etiam apud
Hebrzos quod nisi quis ad ztatem perfectam maturamque pervenerit 4dellum
hunc ne quidem in manibus tenere permittatur. Sed et illud ab eis accepimus
custodiri, quandoquidem moris est apud eos omnes scripturas ἃ doctoribus
et a sapientibus tradi pueris simul et eas quag δευτερώσεις appellant, ad ultimum
quatuor ἰδία reservari, id est Principium Genesis, in quo mundi creatura describitur,
et Ezechielis Prophetz principia, in quibus de Cherubim refertur, et finem in
quo templi zedificatio continetur, et hunc Cantici Canticorum librum.’—/vologus
in Cantica Canticorum. Itis not a little remarkable that neither this passage
from Origen nor the one quoted above from Jerome is referred to by Whiston,

we

tees bie)!
: Ja)

vi

THE GOVERNOUR. | 131

So all thoughe I do nat approue the lesson of wanton poetes
to be taughte unto all children, yet thynke I conuenient
and necessary that, whan the mynde is become constante and
courage is asswaged, or that children of their naturall disposi-
tion be shamfaste and continent, none auncient poete wolde
be excluded from the leesson of suche one as desireth to come
to the perfection of wysedome.

But in defendynge of oratours and poetes |_had all moste
pip Ee τε 1 was. Verily there y there OOS oe nea be an
excellent poet no poet nor oratour unlasse he haue parte of all
other doctrine, specially of noble philosophie. And to
say the trouth, no man can apprehende the very delecta-
tion that is in the leesson of noble poetes unlasse he
have radde very moche and in diuers autours of diuers lern-
ynges. Wherfore, as I late said, to the augmentation of
understandyng, called in latine Jtellectus et mens, is re-
quired to be moche redyng ands vigilaunt studie in euery
science, specially of that parte of philosophie named morall,
whiche instructeth men in vertue and politike gouernaunce.
Also no noble autour, specially of them that wrate in greke or
latine before xii. C. yeres passed, is nat for any cause to be
omitted. Fortherin I am of Quintilianes opinion, that there
is fewe or none auncient warke that yeldethe nat some frute
or commoditie to the diligent reders.* And it is a very
grosse or obstinate witte that by readyng moche is nat
some what amended. .

Concernynge the election of other autours to be radde

I haue (as I truste) declared sufficiently my conceipt and
opinion in the x and xi chapiters of this litle treatise.”
who wrote an essay expressly to prove that ‘this book was written by Solomon
in the loose and wicked part of his life,’ and that consequently it ought to be ex-
cluded from the canon. See A Supplement to an Essay towards Restoring the
True Text of the Old Testament, 1723.

* *Paucos et vix ullum ex his, qui vetustatem pertulerunt, existimo posse
reperiri, quin judicium adhibentibus allaturus sit utilitatis aliquid.’—Jnstt. Orat,
ib. x. cap. I, § 40.

» In the original, as printed, this paragraph ended as follows: ‘in the firste
K2

132 THE GOVERNOUR.

Finally, like as a delicate tree that cometh of a kernell,
whiche as sone as it burgeneth out leues, if it be plucked uppe
or it be sufficiently rooted, and layde in a corner, it becometh
drye or rotten and no frute cometh of it, if it be remoued and
sette in an other ayre or erthe, which is of contrary qualities
where it was before, it either semblably diethe or beareth no
frute, or els the frute that cometh of it leseth his verdure and
taste, and finally his estimation. So the pure and excellent
lerning wherof I haue spoken, thoughe it be sowen in a
childe neuer so tymely, and springeth and burgeneth neuer
so pleasauntly, if, byfore it take a depe rote in the mynde
of the childe, it be layde a syde, either by to moche solace or
continuall attendaunce in seruice, or els is translated to an
other studie whiche is of a more grose or unpleasaunt qua-
litie before it be confirmed or stablisshed by often reding or
diligent exercise, in conclusion it vanissheth and cometh to
no thing.

Wherfore lete men replie as they list, but, in myne opinion,
men be wonderfully disceyued nowe a dayes, (I dare nat saye
with the persuasion of auarice,) that do put their children at
the age of xiiii or xv yeres to the studie of the lawes of the
realme of Englande.* I will shewe to them reasonable causes

boke of this little treatise,’ but the correction appears among the errata of the first
edition, and for the reason given in note ὅ, p. 47 axe, has been inserted in its pro-
per place in accordance with the author’s directions.

* Was this, as Blackstone would seem to suggest, out of deference to the ex-
ample of ancient Rome, where, as Cicero informs us (De Legg. lib. ii. cap. 23),
the very boys were obliged to learn the twelve tables by heart as a carmen neces-
sarium or indispensable lesson, to imprint on their tender minds an early
knowledge of the laws and constitution of their country? Fortescue, who was
Lord Chief Justice and afterwards Lord Chancellor, shows us that at any rate in
his time (2.6. in the reign of Henry VI.) the Inns of Court were more like Univer-
sities than they have ever been since, and that only the sons of rich men could
afford such an expensive education. He says: ‘Sunt namque in eo decem
Hospitia minora, et quandoque vero plura, que nominantur Hospitia Cancellariz.
Ad quorum quodlibet pertinent centum studentes ad minus, et ad aliqua eorum
major in multo numerus, licet non omnes semper in eis simul conveniant.
Studentes etenim isti, pro eorum parte majori, juvenes sunt. Originalia et quasi
Legis Elementa addiscentes, qui in illis proficientes, ut ipsi maturescunt, ad majora

THE GOVERNOUR. 133

why, if they wyll paciently here me, infourmed partely by
myne owne experience.

CHAPTER XIV,

Howe the studentes in the lawes of this realme maye take excellent
commoaditie by the lessons of sondrie doctrines.

IT may nat be denyed but that:al lawes be founded on the
depest parte of raison,* and, as I suppose, no one lawe so

Hospitia studii illius, que Hospitia Curie appellantur, assumuntur, Quorum
majorum quatuor sunt in numero et ad minimum eorum pertinent in forma preenotata
ducenti studentes aut prope. In his enim majoribus Hospitiis, nequaquam potest
studens aliquis sustentari minoribus expensis in anno quam octoginta scutorum (= 20
marks), et si servientem sibi ipse ibidem habuerit ut eorum habet pluralitas, tanto
tunc majores ipse sustinebit expensas. ~Occasione vero sumptuum hujusmodi ipst
nobilium filit tantim in Hospitiis illis Leges addiscunt. Cum pauperes et vulgares
pro filiorum suorum exhibitione tantos sumptus nequeant sufferre. Et mercatores
raro cupiant tantis oneribus annulis attenuare Mercandisas suas. Quo fit ut vix
doctus in Legibus illis reperiatur in regno, qui non sit nobilis et de nobilium genere
egressus. Unde magis aliis consimilis status hominibus ipsi nobilitatem curant et
conservationem honoris et famze suz. In his revera Hospitiis majoribus etiam et
minoribus, ultra studium Legum, est quasi Gymnasium omnium morum qui nobiles
decent. Ibi cantare ipsi addiscunt similiter, et se exercent in omni genere Harmonize.
Ibi etiam tripudiare ac jocos singulos nobilibus convenientes, qualiter in Domo Regia
exercere solent, enutriti. In ferialibus diebus, eorum pars major legalis discipline
studio, et in Festivalibus Sacree Scripture et Cronicorum lectioni post divina
obsequia se confert. Ibi quippe disciplina virtutum est, et vitiorum omnium
exilium. Ita ut propter virtutis acquisitionem, vitii etiam fugam, Milites, Barones
alii quoque Magnates, et nobiles regni, in Hospitiis illis ponunt filios suos, quamvis
non gliscunt eos Legum imbui disciplina, nec ejus exercitio vivere, sed solum ex
patrociniis suis.’—De Laud. Leg. Angl. cap. 49.

® Cicero’s definition of the law of nature is as follows; ‘Lex est ratio summa
insita in natura, que jubet ea que facienda sunt prohibetque contraria.. Eadem.
ratio quum est in hominis mente confirmata et confecta Lex est.’—De Legg. lib.
i. cap. 6. Blackstone says: ‘ This law of nature, being coeval with mankind and
dictated by God himself, is, of course, superior in obligation to any other. It is
binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times : no human laws are
of any validity if contrary to this, and such of them as are valid derive all their
force and all their authority mediately or immediately from this original. But in
order to apply this to the particular exigencies of each individual, it is still neces-

134 7 THE GOVERNOUR.

moche as our owne;* and the deper men do inuestigate raison
the more difficile or harde muste nedes be the studie. Also
that reuerende studie is inuolued in so barbarouse a langage,
that it is nat onely voyde of all eloquence,’ but also beynge

sary to have recourse to reason; whose office it is to discover, as was before
observed, what the law of nature directs in every circumstance of life, by consider-
ing what method will tend the most effectually to our own substantial happiness.
And if our reason were always, as in our first ancestor before his transgression,
clear and perfect, unruffled by passions, unclouded by prejudice, unimpaired by
disease or intemperance, the task would be pleasant and easy—we should need no
other guide but this. But every man now finds the contrary in his own experi-
ence ; that his reason is corrupt and his understanding full of ignorance and error.
This has given manifold occasion for the benign interposition of divine providence,
which, in compassion to the frailty, the imperfection, and the blindness of human
reason, hath been pleased at sundry times and in divers manners to discover and en-
force its laws by an immediate and direct revelation. The doctrines thus delivered
we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only inthe Holy Scrip-
turés;- 3 {is Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of
revelation, depend all human laws : that is to say, no human laws should be suf-
fered to contradict these.’— Commentaries, p. 40, 15th ed.

® «The first ground of the law of England is the law of veason..... It is not

{ used among them that be learned in the laws of England to reason what thing is ~

| commanded or prohibited by the law of ature, and what not, but all the reasoning in
“that behalf is under this manner. As when anything is grounded upon the law of
nature they say that veason will that such a thing be done ; and if it be prohibited
by the law of nature they say it is against reason, or that reason will not suffer
‘that to be done.’—Doctor and Student, chap. v. By Coke the common law of
4England is called ‘the absolute perfection of reason;’ (Second Jnstit. cap. xii.)
land in another place the same learned judge says, ‘This is another strong argu-
‘Iment in law, 7:11} quod est contra rationem est licitum ; for reason is the life of the
law,- nay, the common law itselfe is nothing else but reason; which is to be
‘wegen of an artificiall perfection of reason, gotten by long study, observation,
jland experience, and not of every man’s naturall reason.’—Co. Litt. 97 Ὁ. Plow-
jaen asserts that the common law ‘is no other than pure and tried reason.’— Zhe
Case of Mines, Rep. p. 316.
> Fulbecke, who wrote in 1599 the earliest treatise in English on the study
of the law, says: ‘Cicero, when he treateth of matters of law, speaketh like
a lawyer, and a lawyer must speak as the law doth speak; therefore Baro
saith well the writers of the law would not have left to posterity so many law
books if they had affected a choice phrase of speech, And surely if when the
Latin tongue did most flourish the Czsars and Cicero himself did not use any
gorgeous and filed kind of speech in matters of law, shall we desire it of Bartolus,
Bracton, Britton, and Glanvill, when eloquence was in the eclipse or wane, and
exceedingly decayed? Varro saith that by the diverse mixtures of people and

THE GOVERNOUR. 135

seperate from the exercise of our lawe onely, it serueth to no
commoditie or necessary purpose, no man understandyng it
but they whiche haue studyed the lawes.*

᾿ς nations old words grow out of use and are changed, and new do take place: how
can it then be but that the common law should have harsh, obscure, difficult, and
strange terms by the commixtion of the several languages of the Saxons, Danes,
and Normans, the authors of the same ?’—/repazative to the Study of the Law,
Ῥ. 54, ed. 1829. Sir John Doderidge, a sixteenth century lawyer, defending
the use of Law Latin, says: ‘Secondly may be objected that since the time
that the Latine tongue was vulgarly used among the Romans and other the
nations that they subdued to that empire (for they much endeavoured the pro-
pagation of their language), sundry new things have beene invented, whereof
those ancient people had either no intelligence or no use; and, therefore, where
such things doe occurre there doe want words proper and peculier in the Latine
tongue to denote the same, and men must of necessity bee enforced either to
use barbarous words, farre from the purity of the Latine speech, or to invent new to
express their meaning*..... Lastly, there remaineth this scruple: where it
hath been affirmed that there is much respect had of the true propriety of Latine
words, it seemeth nothing lesse, for those formes are conceived in a base stile, farre
removed from purity of speech ; so that the professors of law within this land can
challenge no great commendation in this kinde. To this is answered that the
Lawes of this Land neither doe nor desire to affect Eloquence in the Latine tongue,
for wee have no-use of the speech thereof in our arguments, for as much as the
statute made 36 E. III. cap. 15, hath ordained that all pleadings and all arguments
and disputations of Law should thenceforth be performed in the English tongue ;
whereas formerly, as it seemeth, it was put in ure in the French, remaining untill
that time as a badge of the Norman captivity, whereof there is now no use but in
the arraigning of an Assize and an Appeale, and such French arguments as are
used for exercise in the Houses and Societies of Court and Chancery.’—7he Eng>
lish Lawyer, p. 49, edn. 1631.

* ‘From the conquest till the latter half of the fourteenth century the pleadings
in courts of justice were in Norman French ; but in the 36 Ed. III. it was ordained
by the king ‘‘that all plees which be to be pleded in any of his courts, before any of
his justices, or in his other places, or before any of his other ministers, or in the courts
and places of any other lords within the realm, shall be pleded, shewed, and defended,
answered, debated, and judged in the English tongue, and that they be entred and
enrolled in Latine.” Long before this wise measure of reform was obtained by the
urgent wishes of the nation, the French of the law courts had become so corrupt and
unlike the language of the invaders, that it was scarcely more intelligible to educated
natives of France than to most Englishmen of the highest rank. A jargon, compounded
of French and Latin, none save professional lawyers could translate it with readiness
or accuracy. And, whilst it unquestionably kept suitors in ignorance of their own
affairs, there is reason to believe that it often perplexed the most skilful of those
official interpreters who were never weary of extolling its lucidity and precision,’--

Se ¢
τὰ 3
a

136 THE GOVERNOUR.

Than children at xiiii or xv yeres olde, in whiche tyme
springeth courage, set all in pleasure, and pleasure is in nothyng
that is nat facile or elegaunt, beyng brought to the moste
difficulte and graue lernyng whiche hath no thynge illece-
brouse or delicate to tickyll their tender wyttes and alure
them to studie, (onles it be lucre, whiche a gentyll witte lytle
estemeth,) the more parte, vainquisshed with tediousenesse,
either do abandone the lawes and unwares to their frendes
do gyue them to gamyng and other (as I mought saye) idle
busynesse nowe called pastymes ;* or els if they be in any wyse
therto constrayned, they apprehendyng a piece therof, as if
they beyng longe in a derke dungeon onely dyd se by the
light of a candell,? than if after xx or xxx yeres studie they

Jeaffreson’s Book about Lawyers, vol. ii. p. 98. Fabyan says that in 38 Ed. III.
an ordinance was made that serjeants and ‘prentyses of the lawe’ should plead
their pleas 7 their mother tongue, but adds that ‘this stood but a short while.’—
Chron. p. 247, ed. 1559.

* What the pastimes were to which the students of the author’s day were
addicted we learn from Dugdale, who, speaking of the Inner Temple, says : ‘In 13
Hen. VIII. it was ordered that none of the society should, within this House, exercise
the play of Shoffe-grote or Slyp-grote upon pain of 6s. 8d.’—Origines, p.149. The
following passage in the Avcheologia, under date 1763, may perhaps be consi-
dered to support the strictures of the author unless we refer the ‘ pastime,’ of which
such conclusive proof is given, to the latter half of the succeeding century, when
the ruling passion was probably still stronger: ‘In new paving the hall of the
Middle Temple in London, about forty years ago, was taken up a silver gilt enamelled
box containing near one hundred pair of small ivory dice, scarce more than two-
thirds of the modern size.’—Vol. viii. p. 427. Dugdale, speaking of Lincoln’s
Inn, says: ‘Touching their sports and corporal exercises, it was ordered in 32
Eliz. that not only all the sportings, late watchings, and exercises before that
time yearly used on the Hunting Wight, but also their repair usually at a cer-
tain day yearly to Kentish Town, and the Dining, with sports and assemblies,
before that time used, should be taken away and no more exercised.’— Origines,
p- 245, ed. 1680. From the same source we learn that the members of the
Middle Temple were ‘ wont to be entertained with Post Revels, performed by the
better sort of the young gentlemen of the Society, with galliards, corrantoes, and
other dances, or else with stage playes.’—/¢id. p. 205.

» Sir William Blackstone, in his inaugural lecture ‘On the Study of the Law,’
delivered at Oxford, 25 Oct., 1758, uses very similar language with regard to the
preparation for the profession in his own time. “γε may appeal,’ he says, ‘to
the experience of every sensible lawyer whether anything can be more hazardous
or discouraging than the usual entrance on the study of the law. A raw and un-

THE GOVERNOUR. 137

happen to come amonge wyse men, hering maters commened
of concerning a publike weale or outwarde affaires betwene
princes, they no lasse be astonied than of commyng out of a
darke house at noone dayes they were sodaynly striken in the
eyen with a bright sonne beame.* But I speke nat this in re-
proche of lawyers, for I knowe dyuers of them whiche in con-
sultation wyll make a right vehement raison, and so do some
other whiche hath neither lawe nor other lernyng, yet the one
and the other, if they were fournisshed with excellent doctrine,
their raison shulde be the more substanciall and certayne.”

experienced youth, in the most dangerous season of life, is transplanted on a
sudden into the midst of allurements to pleasure, without any restraint or check
but what his own prudence can suggest ; with no public direction in what course to
pursue his inquiries ; no private assistance to remove the distresses and difficulties
which will always embarrass a beginner. In this situation he is expected to
sequester himself from the world, and, by a tedious, lonely process, to extract the
theory of law from a mass of undigested learning; or else, by an assiduous
attendance on the courts, to pick up theory and practice together sufficient to
qualify him for the ordinary run of business. How little, therefore, is it to be
wondered at that we hear of so frequent miscarriages: that so many gentlemen of
bright imaginations grow weary of so unpromising a search, and addict themselves
wholly to amusements or other less innocent pursuits ; and that so many persons
of moderate capacity confuse themselves at first setting out, and continue ever dark
and puzzled during the remainder of their lives.’—Commentaries, vol. i. p. 31,
15th edition.

® Speaking of the custom that prevailed more than two hundred years later,
Blackstone says : ‘If practice be the whole he is taught, practice must also be the
whole he will ever know ; if he be uninstructed in the elements and first principles
upon which the rule of practice is founded, the least variation from established
precedents will totally distract and bewilder him : 7¢a lex scripta est is the utmost
his knowledge will arrive at ; he must never aspire to form, and seldom expect
to comprehend, any arguments drawn ἃ friori from the spirit of the laws and the
natural foundations of justice.’—Commentaries, vol. i. p. 32, 15th edn. The
reproach of the sixteenth century has, it is to be feared, not been entirely removed
in the nineteenth. Witness the evidence given before the Royal Commission
appointed (1854) to inquire into the arrangements of the Inns of Court. ‘One of
the gentlemen who was thought worthy of passing by the Council had never heard
of the Spanish Armada ; another, who had never heard of Lord Clarendon, was
selected some time ago for an honourable notice. The gentleman who had never
heard of the Spanish Armada was allowed to hold rank in a profession supposed
to consist of educated men.’—/ef. p. 122.

» The most distinguished lawyer of this time was, undoubtedly, Sir Thomas

138 THE GOVERNOUR.

There be some also whiche by their frendes be coarted *
to aplye the studie of the lawe onely, and for lacke of plen-
tuouse exhibition be let of their lybertie, wherfore they can
nat resorte unto passetyme ; these of all other be moste caste
awaye, for nature repugnyng, they unneth taste any thing
that may be profytable, and also their courage is so mortifyed
(whiche yet by solace perchaunce mought be made quicke or
apte to some other studie or laudable exercise) that they lyue
euer after out of all estimation.>

Wherfore Tulli sayeth we shulde so indeuour our selfes
that we striue nat with the uniuersall nature of man, but
that beynge conserued, lette us folowe our owne propre na-
tures, that thoughe there be studies more graue and of more
importaunce, yet ought we to regarde the studies wherto we
be by our owne nature inclined.*. And that this sentence is

More, who was appointed Lord Chancellor three years previous to the publica-
tion of Zhe Governour. Amongst other celebrated contemporaries were Shelley,
Brooke, Cholmley, Fitz-Herbert (the author of various legal works), Chriis-
topher Hales, who was Attorney-General, and afterwards Master of the Rolls,
1536, and Fitz-James, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, whose character Mr.
Foss shows to have been unjustly depreciated by Lord Campbell. It is possible
that the insinuation in the text, of lack of learning, coupled with vehemence, may
be intended to apply to such men as Lord Rich, of whom Mr. Foss says: ‘As
his name is not to be discovered in the Year-Books or in any other reports, it is
difficult otherwise to attribute his advancement to the bench of that society (the
Middle Temple), than to the influence of opulent friends and a mixture of that
sublleness and insolence in his bearing which he exhibited in after life.’ —udges of
England, vol. v. p. 318.

* See the Glossary.

» Dugdale, in describing how at this time (z.¢. temp. Hen. VIII.) the practice.
of the law was commenced too early, quotes a passage from a MS, in the Cotton
Library curiously resembling that in the text: ‘ First, there is no land nor revenues
belonging to the House whereby any learner or student mought be holpen and
encouraged to study, by means of some yearly stipend or salary; which is the
occasion that many a good witt, for lack of exhibition, is compelled to give over
and forsake study before he have any perfyt knowledge in the law, and to fall to
practising, and become a Typler in the Law.’—Ovigines, Ὁ. 193, ed. 1680.

* *Sic enim est faciendum, ut, contra universam naturam nihil contendamus ;
ea tamen conservata, propriam naturam sequamur ; ut, etiam si sint alia graviora
atque meliora, tamen nos studia nostra nostree nature regula metiamur.’—Cic. De
Officiis, lib. i, cap. 31. It must never be forgotten that unless Gibbon had

THE GOVERNOUR. 139

true we haue dayly experience in this realme specially. For
how many men be there that hauyng their sonnes in child-
hode aptly disposed by nature to paynte, to kerue, or graue,
to embrawder, or do other lyke thynges, wherin is any arte
commendable concernynge inuention, but that, as sone as they
espie it, they be therwith displeased, and forthwith byndeth
them apprentises* to taylours, to wayuers,> to towkers,° and
somtyme to coblers,* whiche haue ben the inestimable losse of

acted on the principle mentioned in the above passage, literature would have
been bereft of one of her most brilliant ornaments. The historian himself
tells us, ‘Mrs. Gibbon, with seeming wisdom, exhorted me to take chambers
in the Temple, and devote my leisure to the study of the law. I cannot repent
of having neglected her advice. Few men, without the spur of necessity,
have resolution to force their way through the thorns and thickets of that
gloomy labyrinth. Nature had not endowed me with the bold and ready elo-
quence which makes itself heard amidst the tumult of the bar. And I should
probably have been diverted from the labours of literature without acquiring the
fame or fortune of a successful pleacer.’—Aemoirs, p. 59.

* It is clear, however, that this was not in former times considered derogatory,
for in the Lider Albus, which was compiled in 1419, we read: ‘ Antiquitis nullus
factus fuit apprenticius, nec saltem admissus fuit inlibertatem dicte civitatis, nisi
cognitus fuerat esse bere conditionis ; sive, si postquam liberatus fuerat, innotesceret
quod erat servilis conditionis, ¢o tfso civitatis perdidit libertatem.’—Chron. and
Mem. p. 33. And Stow, in his Survey, which was written in 1598, says: ‘But
because the apprentices of London were often children of gentlemen and persons
of good quality, they did affect to go in costly apparel, and wear weapons, and
frequent schools of dancing, fencing, and music; therefore, by an Act of Common
Council in May, anno 1582, these things were thought fit to be forbidden.’—
Vol. ii. p. 329.

» See note p. 7 ante.

* See the Glossary.

4 Mr. Froude would apparently consider this as an additional proof of the
national hatred of the ‘abominable sin of idleness;’ but it hardly supports to the full
extent his view that it was ‘the State, which promising for itself that all able-bodied
men should be found in work, and not allowing any man to work at a business for
which he was unfit, insisted as its natural right that children should not be allowed
to grow up in idleness, to be returned at mature age upon itshands. Every child,
so far as possible, was to be trained up in some business or calling, idleness ‘ being
the mother of all sin,’ and the essential duty of every man being to provide
honestly for himself and his family. The educative theory, for such it was, was
simple but effective : it was based on the single principle that, next to the know-
ledge of a man’s duty to God, and as a means towards doing that duty, the first
essential of a worthy life was the ability to inaintain it in independence. Varieties

140 THE GOVERNOUR.

many good wittes, and haue caused that in the said artes
englisshmen be inferiors to all other people, and be con-
strayned, if we wyll haue any thinge well paynted, kerued, or
embrawdred, to abandone our owne countraymen and resorte
unto straungers,® but more of this shall I speke in the nexte

volume.

of inapplicable knowledge might be good, but they were not essential. Such
knowledge might be left to the leisure of after years, or it might be dispensed with
without vital injury. Ability to labour could not be dispensed with, and this,
therefore, the state felt it to be its own duty to see provided.’—/Hist. of Eng.
vol. i. p. 43. It is abundantly clear from the evidence not only of Sir Thos. Elyot,
but of other 16th century writers, that it was not te State acting upon the general
principle that idleness is abominable and sinful, but the parents themselves, acting
from merely selfish motives, who apprenticed their children to trades. It must be
remembered that in pre-Reformation times the Universities offered few inducements
to any but members of the monastic orders. The Inns of Court, as Fortescue tells
us, were expensive, and frequented exclusively by the rich and noble. One result
of the Reformation was to divert the stream which had hitherto flowed through the
Inns of Court into another channel flowing through the Universities to the secure
haven of clerical preferment bestowed by lay patronage. The Universities now held
out inducements to the scions of noble houses; fer contra the middle classes were
attracted to the Inns of Court. Ferne, writing at the end of the 16th century,
complains that ‘A worthy maintenaunce of the yonger brethren of Gentle and
Noble houses (esfeciallye since the desolucion that was iustly layd upon Collegiat
Churches and Chapters) is mightely diminished. For by that free accesse, now
permitted to yeomanrye and Merchauntes, to set their broode to the studye of
common lawes, that faculty is so pestered, yea many worthy offices, and places
of high regarde in that vocation (in olde time left to the support of gentle linage)
are now preoccupated and usurped by ungentle and base stocke.’—7he Blazon of
Gentrie, p. 93, ed. 1586.

® Another cause has, however, been assigned for this lack of native talent, and
perhaps a more probable one. ‘ When we look into the history of the great schools
of Italy, and consider how much they are indebted for their rise and prosperity to
the influence of the Roman Church, it may account in some degree for the stagna-
tion of the Arts in England, that this source of encouragement was cut off when it
might have been an important aid to the favourable circumstances in which they
were at length placed by the patronage of the sovereign, and the more general
desire to cultivate them for their own sake, which would necessarily follow the
spread of literature and refinement. . . . In the gradual development of the arts
of painting and sculpture Engiand had taken no share; and as regards the former
especially, our history presents a total blank during the whole period of its ad-
vancement in Italy. When, therefore, an epoch at length arrived favourable to.
the appreciation of the art, it presented itself for the first time in a perfect form to

THE GOVERNOUR. 141

But to resorte unto lawyars. I thinke verily if children were
broughte uppe as I haue written, and continually were retayned
in the right studie of very philosophy untyll they passed "
the age of xxi yeres, and than set to the lawes of this realme® ὦ

the few in whom superior education and wealth united the will with the means of
encouraging it. In the eyes of this class, who may rather be said to have pur-
chased than patronised it, art assumed the character of a foreign luxury, and they
were at first*too impatient, and soon learned to be too fastidious, to attend to the
tedious process of cultivating what they could readilyimport. Thus was established,
and thus has been perpetuated, the predilection for foreign art and foreign artists,
which so long pressed like an incubus upon native talent, and condemned it to
move in the humble track of imitation. Walpole designates the state of native art
in the sixteenth century as genius struggling with barbarism. He should have said
genius struggling with prejudice, the influence of which he might have extended down
to his own time.’—Pict. Hist. of Engl. vol. ii. p. 851. The king was himself a
munificent patron of the arts ; his connexion with Holbein is well known, and he
. likewise employed Raphaell, Pietro Torregiano, a Florentine sculptor of very supe-
rior talent; Benedetto Rovezzano, who was selected to design a magnificent royal
tomb, which was never completed ; Jerome de Trevisi, Luca Penni, and other
artists of less note. :

* Blackstone, addressing the University of Oxford, says: ‘The inconveniences
here pointed out (1.6. of justice being administered by illiterate persons) can never
be effectually prevented but by making academical education a previous step to
the profession of the common law, and at the same time making the rudiments of
the lawa part of academical education. For sciences are of a sociable disposition,
and flourish best in the neighbourhood of each other ; nor is there any branch of
learning but may be helped and improved by assistances drawn from other arts.
If, therefore, the student in our laws hath formed both his sentiments and style by
perusal and imitation of the purest classical writers, among whom the historians
and orators will best deserve his regard ; ifhe can reason with precision, and separate
argument from fallacy, by the clear, simple rules of pure unsophisticated logic ; if
he can fix his attention and steadily pursue truth through any the most intricate
deduction by the use of mathematical demonstrations ; ἐγ he has enlarged his con-
ceptions of nature and art by a view of the several branches of genuine experi-
mental philosophy ; if he has impressed on his mind the sound maxims of the law
of nature, the best and most authentic foundation of human laws ; if, lastly, he has
contemplated those maxims reduced to a practical system in the laws of Imperial
Rome; if he has done this or any part of it (though a// may be easily done under
as able instructors as ever graced any seats of learning), a student thus qualified
may enter upon the study of the law with incredible advantage and reputation.
And if at the conclusion or during the acquisition of these accomplishments he
will afford himself here a year or two’s farther leisure, to lay the foundation of his
future labours in a solid, scientifical method, without thirsting too early to attend
that practice which it was impossible he should rightly comprehend, he will after-

142 THE GOVERNOUR.

(being ones brought to a more certayne and compendiouse
studie, and either in englisshe, latine, or good french, written
in a more clene and elegant stile*)-undoughtedly they shuld

wards proceed with the greatest ease, and will unfold the most intricate points with
an intuitive rapidity and clearness.’— Commentaries, vol.i. p. 33, 15th edn. Lord
Bolingbroke enunciates the same sentiments in his Lefvers on the Study and Use of
History ; he says, ‘Alawyer nowisnothing more, I speak of ninety-nine in a hundred
at least, to use some of Tully’s words, ‘ nisi leguleius quidam cautus, et acutus preco
actionum, cantor formularum, auceps syllabarum.’ But there haye been lawyers that
were orators, philosophers, historians ; there have been Bacons and Clarendons, my
Lord. There will benonesuch any more, till, in some betterage, trueambition or the
love of fame prevails over avarice: and till men find leisure and encouragement to
prepare themselves for the exercise of this profession, byclimbing up to the vantage
ground, so my Lord Bacon calls it, of science, instead of grovelling all their lives
below, in a mean, but gainful application to all the little arts of chicane. Till this
happen, the profession of the law will scarce deserve to be ranked among the
learned professions : and whenever it happens, one of the vantage grounds to
which men must climb is metaphysical, and the other historical, knowledge. They
must pry into the secret recesses of the human heart, and become well acquainted
with the whole moral world, that they may discover the abstract reason of all laws ;
and they must trace the laws of particular states, especially of their own, from

“the first rough sketches to the more perfect draughts, from the first causes or occa-
sions that produced them, through all the effects, good and bad, that they pro-
duced.’—P. 132, ed. 1777.

* The lawyers generally, however, were quite contented with their barbarous
jargon. Fulbecke, writing quite at the end of the century, says in his Direction or
Preparative to the Study of the Law, ‘lf the received words of the Law should be altered
it may well be presumed that many ancient books of the Civil law, and the old year
books, would in short time be hardly understood. And I am surely persuaded
that if the ancient terms of the law should be changed for more polite and familiar
novelties, the new terms would be nothing so emphatical and significant as the
cs ae ae The fine Rhetorician will say Absurda consuetudo disrumpenda est; the
Lawyer, he will say Usus contra rationem annullandus est ; he will say that it is
not Roman Latin ; it is most true, therefore, will he conclude it is not well spoken
nor congrue. The argument halteth. The Muscovite will speak of a thing
after one sort ; the Fleming after another sort will utter the same thing: neither
of them speak in Latin, but in their own language. Do they not, therefore, speak
right? Yes, they speak right and congrue in their own language, and so do the
lawyers in their own dialect and language proper to their art. Doth any man
think that these words, Bellum, Exul, Sylva, Proscriptio, manus injectio, were
unknown to the ancient writers of the law? Yet sometime they do not use these,
but instead of them they say Guerra, Bannitus, Boscus, Attinctura, Arrestum,
But it is convenient that they should use these latter words, being proper to their
art or science, Neither is it meet that they should change them for the words of’

THE GOVERNOUR. 143

become men of so excellent wisedome that throughout all the
worlde shulde be founden in no commune weale more noble
counsaylours,* our lawes nat onely comprehendyng most ex-

a strange language..~.. ##And the common law being derived from the
Normans and other nations, doth conveniently retain the words of the first inventors.
And. because amongst lawyers Latin words be used many times in another sense
than they are vulgarly and commonly taken, it is not good to have the interpre-
tation of such words from any other than the lawyers themselves... I do not
think any exquisite skill of the Latin tongue to be necessary in a lawyer; but
hold it sufficient if he know so much thereof, and in such manner, as the common
sort of men which are conversant in the readi atin books. . . The ancient
reporters and handlers of the Law, whilst they wrdte of Fines, Vouchers, Remitters,
Restitution, Releases, and such intricate matters, had no leisure to note the proper-
ties and rules of the Latin tongue in Cicero, Pliny, Plautus, and Varro ; they inquired
not what was good Latin, but what was good law.’—Preparative to the Study of the
Law, pp. 56, 57. Roger North, the younger brother of the Lord Keeper Guild-
ford, at a still later period preferred the old style, for in-his Discourse on the
Study of the Laws, he insists upon the necessity of a student’s early application
to learn the old law French. ‘Some may think that because the law French
is no better than the old Norman corrupted, and now a deformed hotch-
potch of the English and Latin mixed together, it is not fit for a polite spark to
foul himself with ; but this nicety isso desperate a mistake that lawyer and law
French are coincident—one will not stand without the other. All the ancient
books that are necessary to be read and understood are in that dialect ; and the
law itself is not in its native dress, nor is, in truth, the same thing in English.
During the English times as they are called, when the Rump abolished Latin and
French, divers books were translated, as the great work of Coke’s Reports, &c. ;
but upon the revival of the law, those all died, and are now but waste paper.
Even the modern Reports mostly are in French, and, as I said, all the ancient
as well as divers authentic tracts, as Fitz-Herbert’s Vatura Brevium, Staunford’s
Pleas of the Crown, Crompton’s Furisdiction of Courts, &c., are only to be had in
French, and will any man pretend to be a lawyer without it, when that language
should be as familiar to him as his mother-tongue? Now itis not the least use of
these initiatory books that they are to be read in French, for thereby a student
with his slow steps gains ground in the language as well as in the law; and by
that time as he shall be capable to understand other books, he will be capable to
read them, therefore I should absolutely interdict reading Littleton, &c., in any
other than French ; and, however it is translated and the English con-columned
with it, it should be used only as subsidiary, to give light to the French where it is
obscure, and not as a text. For really the Law is scarce expressible properly in
English, and when it is done it must be Frangoise or very uncouth.’—P. 11,
ed. 1824,

* Sir Edward Coke says there are two things to be avoided by the student ‘as
enemies to learning—frefostera lectio and prepropera, praxis.’—Co, Litt. 7o Ὁ,

144 THE GOVERNOUR. :

cellent raisons, but also beyng gadred and compacte (as I
mought saye) of the pure mele or floure syfted out of the
best lawes of all other countrayes, as somwhat I do intende
to proue euidently in the nexte volume,’ wherin I wyll
rendre myne offyce or duetie to that honorable studie wherby

which he also assigns in another place (Pref. to Ninth Reports) as ‘two causes of
the uncertainty of the law.’ That by the former phrase he means to imply a
desultory mode of reading appears pretty plain from his use of a similar expression
in the /nstttutes, part ii. cap. 46, where, in his note on the Statute of Westm. 1st,
he says, ‘ The mischief before this statute was in respect of preposterous or disor-
derly hearing of causes.’ With»regard to the latter phrase, prepropera praxis, it
may be observed that Sir Edward Coke’s own career affords the best commentary
to his text, for we are told that after being six years a student, ‘in consideration
of his great proficiency in the law, he was permitted to be called to the bar,
though the usual period of probation was then eight years. The flattering com-
pliment thus paid by the heads of his profession to his learning and talents was, of
itself, a sufficient recommendation to ensure him early opportunities for bringing
himself further into notice. Accordingly, we find him engaged as counsel in a
case of some importance so early as 1578, that is, in the twenty-eighth year of his
age. He was also appointed reader or lecturer at Lyon’s Inn, an office which he
held during three years; and his readings (which were not given as it is usual to
give them at present, merely for the sake of observing an antiquated form) were
so assiduously attended and so generally admired that he rapidly attained a degree
of repute much greater than that of any other barrister of the same age and
standing at the bar.’—Zibrary of Useful Knowledge. Blackstone says, with refer-
ence to the study of the Law in his own time, ‘The evident want of some assist-
ance in the rudiments of legal knowledge has given birth to a practice which, if
ever it had grown to be general, must have proved of extremely pernicious conse-
quence. I mean the custom by some so very warmly recommended, of dropping all
liberal education, as of no use to students in the law: and placing them in its
stead at the desk of some skilful attorney, γι order to initiate them early in all the
depths of practice, and render them more dexterous in the mechanical part of
business. A few instances of particular persons (men of excellent learning and
unblemished integrity) who, in spite of this method of education, have shone in
the foremost ranks of the bar, have afforded some kind of sanction to this illiberal
path to the profession, and biassed many parents of short-sighted judgment in its
favour; not considering that there are some geniuses formed to overcome all
disadvantages, and that from such particular instances no general rules can be
formed ; nor observing that those very persons have frequently recommended, by the
most forcible of all examples, the disposal of their own offspring, a very different
foundation of legal studies—a regular academical education,’— Commentaries, vol.
i. p. 31, 15th edn,

* This intention, however, as the reader will presently see, was not carried out
by the author,

THE GOVERNOUR. 145

my father was aduaunced to a iuge,-and also I my selfe haue
attayned no lytle commoditie.*

I suppose dyuers men ther be that will say, that the swet-
nesse that is contayned in eloquence and the multitude of

doctrines, shulde utterly withdrawe the myndes of yonge men

from the more necessary studie of the lawes of this realme.
To them wyll I make a briefe answere, but true it shalbe,
and I trust sufficient to wise men. In the gret multitude of
yonge men, whiche alway will repayre, and the lawe beinge ones _
brought in to a more certayne and perfect langage, will also
increase in the reuerent studie of the lawe, undoughtedly
there shall neuer lacke but some by nature inclyned, dyuers by
desyre of sondrie doctrines, many for hope of lucre or some
other aduancement,? will effectuelly studie the lawes, ne will
be therfrom withdrawen by any other lesson whiche is more
eloquent. Example we haue at this present tyme of diuers
excellent lerned men, bothe in the lawes ciuile as also in
phisike, whiche being exactly studyed in all partes of elo-
quence, bothe in the Greeke tonge and latine,° haue nat wit-

* See the Life of the Author, prefixed to the present edition. ᾽

* » Wilson says: ‘ After we haue perswaded our freend that the lawe is honest,
drawyng our argumentes from the heape of vertues, wee must goe further with
hym, and bryng hym in good beleeue that it is very gainfull, For many one
seeke not the knowledge of learning for the goodnesse sake, but rather take paines
for the gaine which thei see doeth arise by it. Take awaie the hope of lucre, and
you shall see fewe take any paines ; no, not in the Vineyarde of the Lorde. For
although none should followe any trade of life for the gaine sake, but euen as he
seeth it is most necessarie for the aduauncement of God’s glorie, and not passe in
what estimation thynges are had in this worlde, yet because we are all so weake

of witte in our tender yeres, that. wee cannot weigh with our selues what is best,
and our bodie so neshe, that it looketh euer to be cherished, we take that whiche

_ is moste gainefull for us, and forsake that altogether whiche wee ought moste to

followe. So that for lacke of honest meanes, and for want of good order, the
best waie is not used, neither is God’s honour in our first yeares remembred. I
had rather (saied one) make my childe a Cobler, then a Preacher, a Tankerd bearer,
then a Scholer. For what shall my sonne seeke for learning when he shall neuer
gett thereby any liuyng? Sett my sonne to that whereby he maie get some what.
The law, therfore, not onely bringeth much gaine with it, but also aduanceth men
both to worship, renowne, and honour.’—Arte of Rhet. p. 36.

¢ The honour of restoring Greek learning in England must be divided between

L

146 THE GOVERNOUR.

standing radde and perused the great fardelles and trusses of
the most barbarouse autours, stuffed with innumerable gloses,*
ᾳ

Linacre, Grocyn, and William Lilye. ‘ Their claims,’ says the biographer of the
first-named, ‘are nicely balanced. In the year 1518 letters patent were granted
to John Chamber, Thomas Linacre, and Fernandus de Victoria, the acknowledged
physicians to the king, together with Nicholas Halsewell, John Francis, Robert
Yaxley, and all men of the same faculty in London, to be incorporated as one body
and perpetual community or college.’—Johnson’s Life of Linacre, pp. 150, 279, ed.
1835. This wasthe foundation of the College of Physicians, of which Linacre was the
original president. ‘ His primary object,’ says Hallam, ‘ was to secure a learned pro-
fession, to rescue the art of healing from mischievous ignorance, and to guide the
industrious student in the path of real knowledge, which at that time lay far more
through the regions of ancient learning than at present. It was important, not for
the mere dignity of the profession, but for its proper ends, to encourage the cultiva-
tion of the Greek langage, or to supply its want by accurate versions of the chief

᾿ medical writers.’—Zit, of Europe, vol. i. p. 459, 4thed. Even at this early stage
of medical science there were some ladies who made it their study ; thus we are
told that in the household of Sir Thomas More, ‘Margaret Gige, though not one
of his naturall children, yet brought up with his other children even from her
youth, was furnished with the knowledge of both the Greek and Latin tongues,
and had good skill in phisicke, as by this you may see. It happened that Sir
Thomas, some yeares before his death, had an ague, and had passed two or three
fitts. After, he had a fitt out of course, so strange and merveilous, that a man would
thinke it impossible ; for he felt himself at one time bothe hote and cold, through-
oute all his bodie, and not in one part hote, and in another colde, for that is not
strange; but he felt sensiblie and painfullie, at one time in one place, both contrarie
qualities. He asked the physitians how it might be possible. They answered it
could not be. Then this little maide (for then shee was verie younge, yet had read
Galen) told Sir Thomas, that there was such a kind of fever; and forthwith she
shewed a book of Galen, De Differentiis Febrium, where he avoucheth as much.
This gentlewoman after married Doctor John Clement, famous for his singular
skill in Greek, and in phisicke.’—Wordsworth’s Zecles. Biog. vol. ii. p. 122, 4th. ed.
® Sir John Doderidge, speaking of the commentators, says : ‘What horrid
and incompt words hath Logicke and Philosophy endured, introduced by
their Dunces devices, as Hus, entitas, guidditas, causalitas, with a multitude of
others impertinent to be remembered? With what improper tearmes and bar-
barous speeches have the schoolmen daubed Divinity? What hath beene in this
kinde brought in upon the pure and cleare fountaines of the Digests of the Civill
Lawes? which being compiled out of sundry most excellent sentences, drawne out
of the workes and passages of the ancient Romane lawyers, doe retaine the same
purity and conformity of a cleane and neat stile, as though all had beene penned by
one man ; and yet are in a manner defiled by the Feudary Tenurist writers of the
middle age in their G/osses and commentaries, as those learned Lawyers of this
latter age, Alciatus, Budzeus, Cujacius, and the rest have undergone an Herculean

δος

THE GOVERNOUR, — [47

Ψ΄

wherby the moste necessary doctrines of lawe and phisike be
mynced in to fragmentes, and in all wise mens opinions, do
perceyue no lasse in the said lernynges than they whiche neuer
knewe eloquence, or neuer tasted other but the fecis or
dragges of the sayd noble doctrines. And as for the multi-
tude of sciences can nat indamage any student,* but if he be

labour to clensethe same.’— The English Lawyer, p.52, ed. 1631. Theidea contained
in the sentence marked by italics in this passage had been already anticipated by
Laurentius Valla, who says: ‘Cui (z.e. the general conformity of the Roman law
writers) simile quiddam (ut de ultima tantum parte quze ad nos pertinet dicam), in
epistolis Ciceronis admirari solebam, que quum a pluribus scribantur, omnes tamen
ab uno eodemque audacius dixerim, si personas sustuleris, ab uno Cicerone scripte .
judicentur, ita verba ac sententize characterque ipse dicendi ubique sui est similis.
Quod eo magis Jurisconsultis est admirandum ; qudd illi efdem zetate cuncti ex-
titerunt, in eodem quasi ludo ac schola instituti, hi vero inter se etiam seculis
distant, licet omnes post Ciceronem, ideoque quibusdam in verbis ab eo differentes,
quales omnes a Virgilio usque ad Livium fuerunt.’—Z/egantiarum, lib. iii. in
prowmio, ed. 1562. Selden in his Preface to the Zzt/es of Honour criticises the
labours of the commentators upon the Civil Law in the following terms : ‘In
things of this nature, to be extracted out of story and philology, they cease to be
Doctors, nay, are scarce Alphabetarians, even the whole rank of them, until you
come to the most learned Budeé, Alciat, Hotomon, Cujas, Wesenbeck, Brisson, the
Gentiles, and some few more of this age, before whom the body of that profession
was not amiss compared to a fair robe of cloth of gold, orof richest stuff and fashion,
gui fust (saving all mannerly respect to you, reader) brodée de merde. The reason of
the similitude is known to any who sees such impudent barbarism in the glosses
on so neat a text, which from Justinian (he died 565) until Lothar 11. (he was
emperor 1125) lay hidden and out of use in the Western Empire, nor did any
there all that time profess or read it.’—Ofera, tom. iii. pars. 1, p. 95, ed. 1726.
Hallam says that ‘the labours of the older jurists in accumulating glosses or short
marginal interpretations were more calculated to multiply than to disentangle the
intricacies of the Pandects.’—Zzt. of Europe, vol. i. p. 409, 4th ed.

® Sir John Doderidge was equally in favour of a liberal education for a
lawyer. ‘It may well bee affirmed that the knowledge of the Law is truly stiled
Rerum divinarum humanarumque scientia, and worthily imputed to be the Science
of Sciences; and that therein lies hid the knowledge almost of every other
learned science. But yet I pray consider, that those forraine knowledges are not
inherent or inbred in the Lawes, but rather as a borrowed light, not found there,
but brought thither, and learned elsewhere by them that have adorned and polished
the studies of the Lawes. For since the materiall subject of the Law is so ample
(as indeed it is), containing all things that may be controverted, the study of the
Lawes, then, must of necessity stretch out her hand and crave to be holpen and
assisted almost of all other sciences. Therefore this objection may well bee ins

L2

148 THE GOVERNOUR.

meued to studie the lawe by any of the sayd motions by me
before touched, he shal rather increase therin than be hyn-
dred, and that shall apere manifestly to theym that either will
gyue credence to my reporte, or els will rede the warkes that
I wyll alledge; whiche if they understande nat, to desyre
some lerned man by interpretinge to cause them perceyue
it. And first I wil begyn at oratours, who beare the principall
tytle of eloquence.

It is to be remembred that in the lernyng of the
hee lawes of this realme, there is at this daye an exercise,
rycke in wherinis a maner,a shadowe, or figure of the auncient
moot"8- shetorike. I meane the pleadynge used in courte
and Chauncery called motes ;4 where fyrst a case is appoynted

verted against them that doe urge the same, and proveth rather that the Professor
of the Lawes should be furnished with the knowledge of all good literature of
most of the Sciences liberall ; for if a man may observe the use of those sciences to
lie hidden in the Law, who then may better use them or observé them, then he
which is already furnished with them. And if the knowledge of the Law doe re-
ceive ornament by those eruditions (as I think no man can denie), it shall be very
expedient and well befitting the student of the Lawes to have first familiarity and
acquaintance with them, and to bee instructed in the same.’—Zng/. Lawyer, p. 34.
Coke was quite of the same opinion :—‘ Now what arts and sciences are necessary
for the knowledge and understanding of these laws? I say that, seeing these laws
do limit, bound and determine all other human laws, arts and sciences, I cannot
exclude the knowledge of any of them from the professors of these laws; the
knowledge of any of them is necessary and profitable.’—/Pref, to Reports,
Part III.

* From Chamberlayne’s Present State of England we \earn that ‘ Utter Bar-
risters are such as from their learning and standing are called by the Benchers to
plead and argue in the society doubtful cases and questions which are called Moots
(from meeting, the old Saxon word for the French assemd/e, or else from the
French mot, a word). And whilst they argue the said cases they sit uttermost on
the forms or benches which they call the Bar. Out of these Mootmen are chosen
Readers for the Inns of Chancery belonging to the Inns of Court, whereof they
are Members, where in Term time and grand Vacations they argue cases in the
presence of attorneys and clerks, All the rest are accounted Inner Barristers,
who for want of learning or time are not to argue in these Moots. And yet ina
Moot before the Benchers two of these Inner Barristers, sitting on the same form:
with the Utter Barristers, do for their exercises recite by heart the pleading-of the
same Moot case in Law French, which Pleading is the Declaration at large of the
said Moot case, the one taking the part of the Plaintiff and the other of the De-
fendant,’ Part II. p. 225, ed. 1679. ay

THE GOVERNOUR. 149

to be moted by certayne yonge men, contaynyng some doubte-
full controuersie, which is in stede of the heed of a declama-
tion called hema. The case beinge knowen, they whiche be
appoynted to mote, do examine the case, and inuestigate what
they therin can espie, whiche may make a contention, wherof
may ryse a question to be argued,* and that of Tulli is called
constitutio, and of Quintilian status cause.

Also they consider what plees on euery parte ought to be
made, and howe the case maye be reasoned, whiche is the fyrste
parte of Rhetorike, named /zuention ; than appoynte they
howe many plees maye be made for euery parte, and in what
formalitie they shulde be sette, whiche is the seconde parte of
Rhetorike, called disposztion, wherin they do moche approche
unto Rhetorike: than gather they all in to perfecte remem-
brance, in suche ordre as it ought to be pleaded, whiche is the
parte of Rhetorike named memorie. But for as moche as the
tonge wherin it is spoken, is barberouse, and the sterynge of
affections of the mynde in this realme was neuer used,? ther-

5. Fulbecke, writing in 1599, recommends this practice as a preparation for
the profession. He says: ‘Gentlemen students of the Law ought by domes-
ticall Moots to exercise and conforme themselves to greater and waighter.
attempts, for it is a point of warlike policie, as appeareth by Vegetius, to traine
younge souldiours by sleight and small skirmishes for more valorous and haughty
proceedings, for such a shadowed kind of contention doth open the way and giue
courage unto them to argue matters in publicke place and Courts of Recorde.’—
Preparative to the Study of the Law, p. 41, ed. 1620. In practice, indeed, it was
found, at a time when books were scarce and beyond the reach of many, the
readiest way to acquire a sound knowledge of law. Thus Wilson says: ‘I haue
knowne diuers, that by familiar talking and moutyng together, haue come to right
good learnyng, without any greate booke skill, or muche beatyng of their braine by
any close studie or secrete musing in their Chambers,’—Ar¢e of Rhet. p. 39.

» ‘Omnis res quee habet in se positam in dictione aut disceptatione aliquam con-
troversiam, aut facti, aut nominis, aut generis, aut actionis continet questionem.
Eam igitur queestionem, ex qua causa nascitur, Constitutionem appellamus.’—De
Inventione, lib. i. cap. 8...

© ¢ Quod nos statum, id quidam constitutionem vocant, alii guestionem, alii quod
ex guestione appareat.’— Instit. Orat. lib. iii. cap. 6, § 2.

ἃ Wilson, in his Arte of Rhetorique, says : ‘There are three maner of stiles or
inditynges. The great or mightie kinde, when we use greate wordes or vehe-
ment figures. The small kinde, when wee moderate our heate by meaner

4

150 , THE GOVERNOUR.

fore there lacketh Eloquution and Pronunciation, two the
principall partes of rhetorike.* Nat withstanding some law-
yars, if they be well retayned, wyll ina meane cause pronounce
right vehemently.” Moreouer there semeth to be in the sayd

wordes, and use not the moste stirryng sentences. Zhe awe hinde, when we use
no Metaphores nor translated wordes, nor yet use any amplifications, but goe
plainly to worke, and speake altogether in common wordes.’—-P. 172. But he was
quite aware of the advantage of appealing to the passions, for he says elsewhere,
‘ Now in mouyng pitie, and stirryng men to mercie, the wrong done must first bee
plainly tolde ; or if the Judges haue sustained the like extremitie, the best were
to wil them to remember their owne state, how they haue beene abused in like
maner, what wronges they haue suffered by wicked doers, that by hearyng their
owne, they maie the better hearken to others.’—Udi supra, p. 135.

* The above passage is quoted by Mr. Forsyth (Hortensius, p. 314) in con-
firmation of his statement that forensic eloquence was at a very low ebb in
England at this period ; but, curiously enough, he misquotes it, and substitutes
‘nature’ for ‘realme,’ thereby weakening the force of what he intended for (as it is
in fact) an apt illustration of his position. Mr. Forsyth says in another place: ‘ It
must indeed be admitted that eloquence has always been rare amongst the advo-
cates of England, and it may be interesting to consider whether there have been
causes to account for this. Perhaps one reason is the excessive degree of
technicality which formerly pervaded every part and parcel of the English law.
Of all the systems that ever were invented to cramp and confine the intellect,
that of special pleading seems to have been the most admirably adapted to attain
that end. We need not deny that its principles were based in rigid logic, but
the development of those principles produced such a luxuriant crop of artificial
and wiredrawn distinctions, that the most subtle intellect found it difficult to
understand them. It was a miserable exercise of perverted ingenuity to make
plain statements unintelligible by involved verbiage, and while affecting to exclude
all ambiguity of expression, to ransack the English language for expletives and
synonyms, the result of which was a mass of obscure phraseology such as even
a tutored intellect could hardly comprehend.’—U%i supra, p. 341.

> Under the head of ‘Ambiguities,’ Wilson gives us a picture of the way in
which cases were got up in his day. ‘The Lawiers lacke no cases to fill this parte
ful of examples. or rather then faile, they will make doubtes oftentymes, where
no doubt should be at all. “" 15 his Lease long enough?” (quoth one). ‘* Yea, sir,
it is very long,” saied a poore Housbandman. ‘‘Then (quoth he) let me alone
with it ; I will finde-a hole in it I warrant thee.”’ He is careful to add, however,
‘In all this talke I excepte alwaies the good Lawiers, and I maie wel spare them,
for they are but a fewe.’—Arte of Rhet. p. 98. Some idea of the fees paid
to counsel may be culled from the ‘Household and Privy Purse Expenses
of the Le Stranges of Hunstanton,’ published in the Archeologia. Amongst
other items is a fee of 6s. 8d. paid to Mr. Serjeant Spelman (afterwards one
of the Judges of the King’s Bench), ‘for his counsell in putting in of the

THE GOVERNOUR. 151

pledinges certayne partes of an oration, that is to say for
Narrations, Partitions, Confirmations and Confutations, named
of some Reprehensions,» they haue Declarations, Barres,
Replications and Reioyndres,” onely they lacke pleasaunt

answer.’ Similar fees of 3s. 4d. are afterwards given to Mr. Knightley and
Mr. Whyte for’ ‘counsell,’ but in 1 534 Mr. Yelverton had 20s. ‘for his coun-
sell.” Sir Thomas More was made under sheriff of London at the age of twenty-
eight, and we are told that ‘ by this office and learned counsaile, (for there was
not any matter of weight or importance in any of the prince’s courts that he
was not retained for counsaile on the one partie or the other) without grudge
of conscience, or injurie to anie man, he gained above four hundred pounds
yearlie.’— Wordsworth Eccles. Biog. vol. ii. p. 57, 4th ed.

* According to Quintilian’s definition, ‘Nunc de judiciali genere. ... cujus
partes, ut plurimis auctoribus placuit, quinque sunt, Jroemium, narratio, probatio,
vefutatio, peroratio, Wis adjecerunt quidam fartitionem, propositionem, excessum,
quarum priores duz probationi succedunt.’— Zwstit. Orat. lib. iii. cap. 9. 8 1. Cicero
says: ‘Reprehensio est, per quam argumentando adversariorum confirmatio diluitur,
aut infirmatur aut allevatur.’—De J/nvent. lib. i. cap. 42. Wilson divides an oration
into seven parts as follows, viz. ‘1. The Enterance or beginnyng. 2. The Nar-
ration. 3. The Proposition. 4. The Deuision or seuerall partyng of thinges,
5. The Confirmation. 6. The Confutation. 7. The Conclusion.’ And he ex-
plains each part seriatim thus: 1 ‘is the former parte of the Oration, whereby
the will of the standers by, or of the Judge, is sought for and required to heare
the matter.’ 2 is ‘a plaine and manifest pointyng of the matter, and an euident
settyng forth of all thynges that belong unto the same, with a breefe rehersall
grounded upon some reason.’ 3 is ‘a pithie sentence comprehended in a smal
roome, the somme of the whole matter.’ 4 is ‘an openyng of thynges, wherein
wee agree and rest upon, and wherein wee sticke and stande in trauers, shewyng
what we haue to saie in our owne behalfe.’ 5 is ‘a declaration of our owne rea-
sons, with assured and constant proofes.’ 6 is ‘a dissoluyng or wyping awaie of
all suche reasons as make against us.’ 7 is ‘a clarkly gatheryng of the matter
spoken before and a lappyng up of it altogether.’— Zhe Arte of Rhetorique, p. 7.
One of the earliest books on pleading is called Move Narrationes, or ‘the newe
tales,’ evidently deriving its title from the Latin name of the plaintiff’s formal
allegation, zarratio, which was called counte or conte in French. We see from
the text that the rules of oratory laid down by Cicero and Quintilian must have
exercised considerable influence upon the forms and terminology of the early
English pleaders.

> Rastell, in 1564, published his ‘Colleccion of entrees, of declaracions,
barres, replicacions, reioinders, issues, verdits, iudgementes, executions, proces,
contynuances, essoynes, and diuers other matters.” The modern editor of the
year books confirms Mr. Stephens’s view that the reign of Edward I. marks the
_ period at which pleading was ‘first methodically formed and cultivated as a
science.’ Mr. Horwood thinks that the writings of Duns Scotus (who lectured at

152 THE GOVERNOUR.

fourme of begynnyng, called in latine Exvordium,* nor it
maketh therof no great mater; they that haue studied rhe-

Oxford) and of Alexander de Hales, to say nothing of Thomas Aquinas and other
foreign schoolmen, must have been a good preparation for the subtleties of
pleading. Sir Matthew Hale says that ‘tho’ pleadings in the time of Hen. VI.,
Edw. IV., and Hen. VII. were far shorter than afterwards, especially after Henry
VIIT., yet they were much longer'than in the time of King Edw. III., and the
Pleaders, yea, and the Judges too, became somewhat too curious therein, so that
art or dexterity of pleading, which in its use, nature, and design was only to
render the fact plain and intelligible, and to bring the matter to judgment with a
convenient certainty, began to degenerate from its primitive simplicity and the
true use and end thereof, and to become a piece of nicety and curiosity.’— ist.
of the Common Law, p. 173.

® The pleadings down to the time of Edward III. were vivd voce, and those
who pleaded orally would no doubt pursue the method first recommended by
Quintilian in his Institutes, and afterwards adopted by later Rhetoricians.
Thus Wilson says, ‘An enteraunce (i.e. exordium) is two waies deuided. The first
is called a plaine beginning, when the hearer is made apt to giue good eare out of
hande, to that whiche shall followe. The seconde is a priuie twining, or close creep-
ing in, to win fauour with muche circumstaunce, called insinuation. For in all
matters that men take in hande, this consideration ought first to be had, that we
first diligently expend the cause, before we go through with it, that we maie be
assured whether it be lawfull or otherwise. And not onely this, but.also wee
must aduisedly marke the men before whom wee speake, the men against whom
we speake, and al the circumstaunces which belong unto the matter. If the
matter be honest, godly, and such as of right ought to be wel liked, we maie use
an open beginning, and wil the hearers to reioyce, and so go through with our

parte. If the cause be lothsome, or suche as will not be well borne with all, but ©

needeth much helpe and fauour of the hearers, it shal be the speaker’s part
priuely to get fauour, and by humble talk to win their good willes. First requiryng
them to giue hym the hearyng, and next not streightly to giue iudgement, but with
mercie to mitigate all rigour of the Lawe..... Notwithstandyng I thinke it not
amisse often to rehearse this one point, that euermore ¢he deginnyng be not ouer-
muche laboured, nor curiously made, but rather apt to the purpose, seeming upon
present occasion, euermore to take place, and so to bee deuised, as though wee speake
altogether, without any greate studie, framing rather our tale to good reason than
our tongue to vaine painting of the matter. In all which discourse I haue framed
all the lessons and euery enterance properly Zo serue for pleading at the barre.’—Arte
of Rhetorique, pp. 101, 107. When written pleadings were introduced there was
no longer any necessity for a ‘pleasant form of beginning,’ because the count or
declaration then became, as Sir E. Coke tells us, ‘an exposition of the writ, and
addeth time, place, and other necessary circumstances, that the same may be
triable. The count must be agreeable and conforme to the writ, the barre to the
count, &c., and the judgement to the count, for none of them must be narrower or
broader than the other.’—Co. Litt, 303 a, b

a
-

ΒΕ an

a

THE GOVERNOUR. 153

torike shal perceyue what I meane. Also in arguynge their
cases, in myn opinion, they very litle do lacke of the hole
arte; for therin they do diligently obserue the rules of Con-
firmation and Confutation, wherin resteth proufe and dis-
proufe,* hauyng almoste all the places wherof they shall fetche
their raisons, called of Oratours /ocz communes,’ which I
omitte to name, fearinge to be to longe in this mater. And
verily I suppose, if there mought ones happen some man,
hauying an excellent wytte, to be brought up in suche fourme
as I haue hytherto written, and maye also be exactly or depely

* Wilson defines Confirmation thus: ‘When we haue declared the cheef pointes
whereunto we purpose to referre all our reasons, wee must heape matter, and finde
out argumentes to confirme the same to the uttermoste of our power, making
first the strongest reasons that wee can, and next after, gathering all the probable
causes together, that being in one heape, they maie seeme strong and
of great waight. And whatsoeuer the aduersarie hath said against us, to
answere thereunto as tyme and place maie best serue. That if his reasons bee
light, and more good maie bee done in confuting his, than in confirming our owne,
it were best of all to set upon him, and put awaie by arte all that he hath fondly
saied without wit. Now in trying the troth, by reasons gathered of the matter,
we must first mark what was done at that time by the suspected person; when
suche and suche offences were committed ; yea, what he did before this act was
done. Againe the tyme must be marked, the place, the maner of doyng, and
what harte he bare him. As the oportunitie of doyng, and the power he had to
doe this deede. The which, all set together, shall either acquit him, or finde him
giltie. These arguments serue to confirme a matter in iudgement for any hainous
offence. In confuting of causes, the like maie bee had as we used to proue, if
we take the contrary of the same. For as thinges are alledged, so they may be
wrested, and as houses are builded, so they be ouerthrowen. What though many
coniectures bee gathered, and diuers matters framed to ouerthrowe the defendant,
yet wit maie finde out bywaies to escape, and suche shiftes maie be made, either
in auoiding the daunger by plaine deniall, or els by obiections, and rebounding
againe of reasons made, that small harme shall turne to fhe accused person,
though the presumptions of his offence bee greate, and bee thought by good reason
to be faultie.’—Arte of Rhetorique, pp. 114, 115.

> * Heec ergo argumenta, que transferri in multas causas possunt, /ocos communes
nominamus : nam locus communis aut certz rei quandam continet amplificationem,
ut si quis hoc velit ostendere, eum, qui parentem necarit, maximo supplicio esse
dignum : quo loco, nisi perorata et probata causa, non est utendum : aut dubie,
que ex contrario quoque habeat probabiles rationes argumentandi; ut sus-
picionibus credi oportere, et contra, suspicionibus credi non oportere,’—Cic. de Zs
vent. lib. ii, cap. 15.

154 THE GOVERNOUR.

lerned in the arte of an Oratour, and also in the lawes of this
realme, the prince so willyng and therto assistinge, undought-
edly it shulde nat be impossible for hym to bring the pleadyng
and reasonyng of the lawe, to the auncient fourme of noble
oratours ;* and the lawes and exercise therof beyng in pure
latine or doulce frenche, fewe men in consultations shulde (in
myne opinion) compare with our lawyars, by this meanes
beinge brought to be perfect orators, as in whome shulde

« Sir Henry Maine says: ‘It is not becduse our own jurisprudence and
that of Rome were once alike that they ought to be studied together—it is
because they τοῦ be alike. It is because all laws, however dissimilar in their
infancy, tend to resemble each other in their maturity; and because we in
England are slowly, and perhaps unconsciously or unwillingly, but still steadily
and certainly accustoming ourselves to the same modes of legal thought, and to
the same conceptions of legal principle, to which the Roman jurisconsults had
attained after centuries of accumulated experience and unwearied cultivation.’—
Cambridge Essays, 1856, p. 2. Mr. Stephen has pointed out that the oratorical
analysis of Quintilian exhibits exactly the principle of the English pleading, ‘and
when,’ he says, ‘it is considered that the logic and rhetoric of antiquity were the
favourite studies of the age in which that science was principally cultivated, and
that the Judges and pleaders were doubtless men of general learning according to
the fashion of their times, it is perhaps not improbable that the method of de-
veloping the point in controversy was improved from these ancient sources,’—
Principles of Pleading, Appendix, note 23, ed. 1843. This position is further con-
firmed if we refer to the earliest English writers on Rhetoric. Thus Wilson says: ‘In
matters criminall, where iudgement is required, there are two persones at the least,
whiche muste through contrarietie stande and reste uppon some ¢sswe. As for
example, a seruyng man is apprehended by a Lawier for Felonie, uppon suspition.
The Lawier saieth to the seruing manne, thou hast dooen this roberie. Naye
(saieth he), I haue not doen it. Upon this conflicte and matching together
ariseth this State, whether this seruing man hath doon this robberie or no. Upon
whiche pointe the Lawier must stand and seeke to proue it to the uttermoste of his
power. A State therfor, in matters of Judgement, is that thyng whiche doeth
arise upon the first demaunde, and deniall made betwixt men, whereof the one
part is the accuser, and the other part the persone or persones accused. It is
called a State, because we doe stande and rest upon some one poincte, the which
must wholie and onely be proued of the one side, and denied of the other. I can
not better terme it in Englishe then by the name of an /sswe, the whiche not onely
ariseth upon much debatyng, and long trauers used, whereupon al matters are saied
zo come to an issue, but also els where an issue is saied to be then and so often as
bothe partes stande upon one pointe, the whiche dooeth as well happen at the first
beginnyng, before any probations are used, as it dooeth at the latter endyng, nites:
the matter hath at large been discussed.’— Arte of ἀλαφέγμε, Ρ 90.

THE GOVERNOUR. 155

than be founden the sharpe wittes of logitians, the graue sen-
tences of philosophers, the elegancie of poetes, the memorie
of ciuilians, the voice and gesture of them that can ¢ wy ora.
pronounce commedies, which is all that Tulli, in the “7, li. i.
person of the most eloquent man Marcus Antonius, coulde
require to be in an oratour.®

But nowe to conclude myne assertion, what let was elo-
quence to the studie of the lawe in Quintus Sceuola, whiche
being an excellent autour in the lawes ciuile, was called of al
lawiars moste eloquent?’ Or howe moche was eloquence
minisshed by knowlege of the lawes in Crassus, whiche was
called of all eloquent men the beste lawiar ?¢

Also Seruus Sulpitius, in his tyme one of the moste noble
oratours next unto Tulli, was nat so let by eloquence but that
on the ciuile lawes he made notable commentes, and many
noble warkes by all lawyars approued.t Who redeth the text

* ‘Tn oratore autem acumen dialecticorum, sententiz philosophorum, verba
prope poetarum, memoria jurisconsultorum, vox trageedorum, gestus pene sum-
morum actorum est requirendus.’— De Oratore, lib. i. cap. 28.

» Cicero says of him: ‘Q. Sczevola, zequalis et collega meus, homo omnium
et disciplina juris civilis eruditissimus, et ingenio prudentiaque acutissimus, et ora-
tione maxime limatus atque subtilis, atque, ut ego soleo dicere, juris peritorum
eloquentissimus, eloquentium juris peritissimus.’—De Oratore, lib. i. cap. 39.

* Lucius Licinius Crassus was born B.c. 150. Cicero institutes the following
comparison between him and Sczevola : ‘ Hic ego, Noli, inquam, Brute, existimare
his duobus quicquam fuisse in nostra civitate preestantius : nam, ut paulo ante dixi,
consultorum alterum disertissimum, disertorum alterum consultissimum fuisse ; sic
in reliquis rebus ita dissimiles erant inter sese, statuere ut tamen non posses, utrius
te malles similiorem. Crassus erat elegantium parcissimus, Scxvola parcorum ele-
gantissimus. Crassus in summa comitate habebat etiam severitatis satis, Sczevolee
multa in severitate non deerat tamen comitas.’—De claris Orator., cap. 40.

ἃ Servius Sulpicius Rufus was consul B.c, 51. Cicero says: ‘Fuit enim
Sulpicius vel maxime omnium, quos quidem ego audiverim, grandis et, ut ita
dicam, tragicus orator : vox cum magna, tum suavis, et splendida: gestus et motus
corporis ita venustus, ut tamen ad forum, non ad scenam institutus videretur ; in-
citata et volubilis, nec ea redundans tamen nec circumfluens, oratio’ (De claris
Orator. cap. 55), and asserts that he had often heard Sulpicius declare that he was
not accustomed and was unable to write. Pomponius, however, tells quite a dif-
ferent tale. ‘Servius, cum in causis orandis primum locum aut pro certo post
Marcum Tullium obtineret, traditur ad consulendum Quintum Mucium de re
amici sui pervenisse ; cumque eum sibi respondisse de jure Servius parum intel-

156 THE GOVERNOUR.

of Ciuile, called the Pandectes or Digestes,* and hath any
commendable iugement in the latine tonge, but he wyll affirme
that Ulpianus, Sceuola, Claudius, and all the other there
named, of whose sayenges all the saide. textis be assembled,
were nat only studious of eloquence, but also wonderfull
exercised : for as moche as theyr stile dothe approche nerer
to the antique and pure eloquence, than any other kinde of
writars that wrate aboute that tyme ὁ ἢ

lexisset, iterum Quintum interrogasse, et ἃ Quinto Mucio responsum esse, nec tamen
percepisse, et ita objurgatum esse a Quinto Mucio; namque eum dixisse, turpe
esse patricio et nobili, et causas oranti, jus in quo versaretur ignorare. Ea velut
contumelia Servius jactatus operam dedit juri civili, et plurimum eos, de quibus
locuti sumus, audiit: institutus 4 Balbo Lucilio, instructus autem maximé a Gallo
Aquilio, qui fuit Cercinze ; itaque libri complures ejus exstant Cercinze confecti.
Hic cum in legatione perisset, statuam ei populus Romanus pro rostris posuit et
hodieque exstat pro rostris Augusti. * Hujus volumina complura exstant ; religuit
autem prope centum et octoginta libros.’—De Orig. Furis., § 43, ed. 1848.

* Hallam says: ‘The general voice of Europe has always named Andrew
Alciati of Milan as the restorer of the Roman law. He taught from the year
1518 to his death in 1550, in the Universities of Avignon, Milan, Bourges, Paris,
and Bologna. Literature became with him the handmaid of law ; the historians
of Rome, her antiquaries, her orators and poets, were called upon to elucidate
the obsolete words and obscure allusions of the Pandects ; to which, the earlier
as well as the more valuable and extensive portion of the civil law, this method
of classical interpretation is chiefly applicable. Alciati was the first who taught
the lawyers to write with purity and elegance. Erasmus has applied to him the
eulogy of Cicero on Sczevola, that he was the most jurisprudent of orators and the
most eloquent of lawyers.’—Zit. of Europe, vol. i. p. 411, 4th ed.

> Sir Henry Maine says : ‘Those who have penetrated deepest into the spirit
of the Ulpians, Papinians and Pauluses are ready to assert that in the produc-
tions of the Roman lawyers they discover all the grand qualities which we
identify with one or another in the list of distinguished Englishmen. They see
the same force and elegance of expression, the same rectitude of moral view,
the same immunity from prejudice, the same sound and masculine sense, the
same sensibility to analogies, the same keen observation, the same nice analysis
of generals, the same vast sweep of comprehensiog over particulars. Unless we are
prepared to believe that for five or six centuries the world’s collective intellect was
smitten with a paralysis which never visited it before or since, we are driven to
admit that the Roman jurisprudence may be all which its least cautious enco-
miasts have ventured to pronounce it, and that the language of conventional pane-
gyric may even fall short of the unvarnished truth.’.—Cam. Essays, 1856, p. 20.
Gibbon passes almost. the same judgment as our author. ‘ Perhaps if the pre-

THE GOVERNOUR. 157

Semblably Tulli, in whom it semeth that Eloquence hath
sette her glorious Throne, most richely and preciousely
adourned for all men to wonder at, but no man to approche it,
was nat let from beinge an incomparable oratour, ne was nat
by the exacte knowlege of other sciences withdrawen from
pleadyng infinite causes before the Senate and iuges, and they
beinge of moste waightye importance. In so moche as
Cornelius Tacitus, an excellent oratour, historien,and ¢,, 7y,
lawiar, saithe, Surely in the bokes of Tulli, men may % Orasor.
deprehende, that in hym lacked nat the knowlege of geome-
trye, ne musike, ne grammer, finally of no maner of art that
was honest: he of logike perceiued the subtiltie, of that

ceptors and friends of Cicero were still alive, our candour would acknowledge
that, except in purity of language, their intrinsic merit was excelled by the school
of Papinian and Ulpian.’—Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. v. p. 284:
Laurentius Valla held the same opinion: ‘Nam Servii Sulpicii atque Mutii
Sczevolee nihil extat, sed alterius Mutiirecentioris. Et prisci illi quidem Juris-
consulti quales quantique in eloquendo fuerint, judicare non possumus, quippe
quorum nihil legimus. His autem, qui inter manus versantur, nihil est, med sententia,
quod addi adimive posse videatur, non tam eloquentize (quam quidem materia illa
non magnopere patitur) quam Latinitatis atque elegantic, sine qua czeca omnis
doctrina est, et illiberalis, preesertim in jure civili.’—Z/egant., lib. iii. p. 200, ed,
E562.) Ὁ :

* ‘He had learnt the rudiments of Grammarand languages from the ablest
teachers, gone through the studies of humanity and the politer letters with the
poet Archias, been instructed in Philosophy by the principal Professors of each
sect, Pheedrus the Epicurean, Philo the Academic, Diodotus the Stoic, acquired
a perfect knowledge of the law from the greatest lawyers as well as the greatest
statesmen of Rome, the two Sczevolas, all which accomplishments were but minis-
terial and subservient to that on which his hopes and ambition were singly placed
—the reputation of an Orator. Thus adorned and accomplished he offered him-
self to the Bar about the age of twenty-six, not as others generally did, raw and
ignorant of their business, and wanting to be formed to it by use and experience,
but finished and qualified at once to sustain any cause which should be committed
to him... After he had given a specimen of himself to the City in this (cause of P.
Quinctius) and several other private causes, he undertook the celebrated defence
of 5, Roscius of Ameria in his twenty-seventh year . . . Roscius was acquitted
to the great honour of Cicero, whose courage and address in defending him was
applauded by the whole city, so that from this moment he was looked upon as an
Advocate of the first class, and equal to the greatest causes.’—Middleton’s Life of
Cicero, vol. i. p. 36-39, ed. 1755. β

158 THE GOVERNOUR.

parte that was morall all the commoditie, and of all thinges ©
the chiefe motions and causis.*

And yet for all this abundance, and as it were a garnerde
heaped with all maner sciences, there failed nat in him sub-
stanciall lernying in the lawes Ciuile,> as it may appiere as
wel in the bokes, whiche he him selfe made of lawes,° as also
and most specially, in many of his most eloquent orations ;
whiche if one well lerned in the lawes of this realme dyd rede
and wel understande, he shulde finde, specially in his orations
called Actiones agayne Verres,4 many places where he shulde
espie, by likelihode, the fountaynes, from whense proceded
diuers groundes of our commune lawes.° But I wyll nowe
leue to speake any more therof at this tyme.

* ‘Ttaque Hercule in libris Ciceronis deprehendere licet, non geometrize, non
music, non grammatice, non denique ullius ingenuz artis scientiam ei defuisse.
Ille dialectic subtilitatem, ille moralis partis utilitatem, ille rerum motus
causasque cognovit.’—De Oratoribus, cap. 30.

» ‘He studied civil law under the able guidance of Q. Mucius Sczevola, whose
house was thronged by clients who resorted to the great jurist for advice in legal
difficulties.’— Hortensius, p. 146, 2nd ed.

¢ « These laws are generally taken from the old constitution or custom of Rome,
with some little variation and temperament contrived to obviate the disorders to
which that Republic was liable, and to give it a stronger turn towards the Aristo-
cratical side ; in the other books which are lost, he had treated, as he tells us, of
the particular rights and privileges of the Roman people.’—Middleton’s Lif of
Cicero, vol. ii. p. 162, edn. 1755.

4 Mr. Forsyth considers that ‘ the great case against Verres, of all the trials of
antiquity, bears the nearest resemblance to the impeachment of Warren Hastings.’
—Ffortensius, Ὁ. 139, 2nd ed.

¢ ‘The historical connexion between the Roman jurisprudence and our own, -
appears to be now looked upon as furnishing one very strong reason for increased
attention to the civil law of Rome. The fact, of course, is not now to be ques-
tioned. The vulgar belief that the English Common Law was indigenous in all
its parts was always so easily refuted by the most superficial comparison of the
text of Bracton and Fleta with the Corpus Yuris, that the honesty of the historians
who countenanced it can only be defended by alleging the violence of their preju-
dices ; and now that the great accumulation of fragments of ante-Justinianean com-
pendia, and the discovery of the MSS. of Gaius, have increased our acquaintance
with the Roman law in the only form in which it can have penetrated into
Britain, the suspicion of an earlier filiation amounts almost to a certainty.’—
Camb. Essays, 1856, p. 1. Mr, Finlason has written an elaborate essay on this

THE GOVERNOUR. ? 159

All* that I haue writen well considered, it shall seme to
wise men, that neither eloquence, nor knowlege of sondry
doctrines, shall utterly withdrawe all men from studie of the
lawes. But all though many were allected unto those doc-
trines by naturall disposition, yet the same nature, whiche
wyll nat (as I mought saye) be circumscribed within the
boundes of a certayne of studies, may as well dispose some
man, as well to desire the knowlege of the lawes of this
realme, as she dyd incline the Romanes, excellently lerned
in all sciences, to apprehende the lawes ciuile ;” sens the lawes

subject. He says: ‘It is the opinion of those whose researches into our early
history give their opinions highest authority, that after the decline of the Roman
Empire, and the withdrawal of the Roman legionaries, the Romanised Britons
(the two races having been so long together that they must to a great extent have
become blended) retained, as might be expected, the Roman ideas of government,
and the Roman laws and institutions, and that these were likewise in a similar
way transmitted to subsequent races of barbarian invaders, who, before their con-
quests were complete, became blended with the Romanised inhabitants of the
island. Nothing is more remarkable in the history of this country than the
gradual blending of the successive races and their laws and institutions, and one
of the most remarkable, though perhaps least recognised illustrations of this is
afforded by the manner in which the Roman occupation paved the way for the
Saxon invasion, and, on the other hand, prepared the way for the adoption by the
Saxons of the Roman institutions. There would therefore, it is manifest, be every
reasonable probability that the Roman laws and institutions would be adopted in
this country, and would continue to exist here even after the Roman rule was at
anend. Nor is it left to probability ; it is converted to the positive certainty of
historic truth by the actual existence of the laws of the Romanised Britons, com-
piled at a period posterior to the termination of the Roman rule in the island, and
anterior to the later Saxon laws.’—eeves’ Hist. of Engl. Law, Introduc. p. xxxvi.
ed. 1869. Mr. Stephen has pointed out (what M. Houard had previously
noticed) the resemblance between the forms of the precepts given by Marculfus
in the 7th century and the forms of the writs of our own courts, and he justly
thinks that the pedigrees of our forms may be traced up to the old Roman for-
mule. See Year Books 32-33 Ed. I., Preface, p. xi. Sir John Doderidge, at the
end of the sixteenth century, had already remarked ‘the great conformity’
between the Roman law and our own, but he seems to have thought that this
was merely a coincidence arising from the fact that the ‘laws of the Empire’
and the ‘ Law of this Land’ agreed ‘in the principles of nature and reason.’—
The English Lawyer, p. 158.

* The following passage, down to the words ‘heedes of the lawes,’ is omitted
in all the subsequent editions.

» Blackstone, in recommending a more general study of the law, says in his

160 THE GOVERNOUR.

of this realme, beinge well gathered and brought in good
latine, shal be worthy to haue like praise as Tulli gaue
to the lawes comprehended in the xii tables, from whens
all ciuile lawe flowed, whiche praise was in this wise. Al

inaugural address as Vinerian Professor, ‘ The Roman Pandects will furnish us with
a piece of history not unapplicable to our present purpose. Servius Sulpicius, a
gentleman of the patrician order, and a celebrated orator, had occasion to take
the opinion of Quintus Mutius Sczevola, the then oracle of the Roman law, but for
want of some knowledge in that science, could not so much as understand even
the technical terms which his friend was obliged to make use of. Upon whic

Mutius Sczevola could not forbear to upbraid him with this memorable reproof :
ἐς That it was a shame for a patrician, a nobleman, and an orator of causes to be

ignorant of that law in which he was so peculiarly concerned.” This reproach-

made so deep an impression on Sulpicius that he immediately applied himself to
the study of the law, wherein he arrived to that proficiency that he left behind
him about an hundred and fourscore volumes of his own compiling upon the sub-
ject, and became, in the opinion of ‘Cicero, a much more complete lawyer than
even Mutius Sczevola himself. I would not be thought to recommend to our
English nobility and gentry to become as great lawyers as Sulpicius, though he
together with this character sustained likewise that of an excellent orator, a firm

patriot, and a wise indefatigable senator ; but the inference which arises from the ᾿

story is this, that ignorance of the laws of the land hath ever been esteemed dis-
honourable in those who are entrusted by their country to maintain, to ad-
minister, and to amend them.’—Comment. vol. i. p. 11, 15th ed.

® Before the end of the century, however, the lawyers defended the barbarisms
which passed current in the profession for Latin words, Thus Sir John Doderidge
says: ‘ The entries and enrollments of our Writs, Pleas, and all other our Law
proceedings are néither base, abject, or horrid, as hath beene imported, for our
Originall Writs of set forme are from ancient memory, have-ever beene preserved
in the booke called the Register, from the which our Clerkes may not swerve, to
avoyd the infinite variety of formes which might otherwise ensue, and were first
conceived and devised in as proper Latine, as the times wherein they were first in-
vented, and the matter it selfe was able to beare. And as touching the other
mentioned proceedings entered in the Latine tongue, although not eloquent, yet
satis laudato forensi stilo as in any other kingdome perspicuous and significant.’
—The Engl. Lawyer, p. 52. Fulbecke did ‘not thinke any exquisite skill of the
Latine tongue to bee necessary in a Lawyer ;’ and Selden, whose own Latin
was remarkably uncouth, excuses the usage of such peculiar forms as ‘ imflacttare,
alodium, forisfacta et ejusmodi forsan paucula alia que fastidientis forsan sto-
machi grammaticis, qui ad nascentis Czesariani imperii zvum ita omnia ridicule
exigunt, ut res ipsas imprimis utiles, libentius ignorari velint quam delicatulis
auribus per vocabula Cicerone, Salustio, Tacito, Livio, aut aliis scriptoribus
qui tunc floruere classicis, minimé reperta immitti.’—-Ofera, tom. ii. ἊΝ 2y
col. 1594, ed, 1726

THE GOVERNOUR. 161

though men will abraide at it, I wyll say as I thinke,
the one litle boke of the xii tables semeth to me to surmounte
the libraries of all the philosophers in waighty auto- οἱ, gd ora-
ritie, and abundance of profite, beholde who so wyll “% % ἐ.
the fountaines and heedes of the lawes.*

More ouer, whan yonge men haue radde lawes, expouned
in the orations of Tulli, and also in histories of the begyn-
nynge of lawes, and in the warkes of Plato, Xenophon, and
Aristotell, of the diuersities of lawes and publike weales, if
nature (as I late saide) wyll dispose them to that maner
studie, they shall be therto the more incensed, and come unto
it the better prepared and furnisshed. And they whom
nature therto nothinge meueth, haue nat only saued all that
time, which many now a dayes do consume in idlenesse,” but
also haue wonne suche a treasure, wherby they shall alway
be able to serue honourably theyr prince, and the publike
weale of theyr countray, principally if they conferre al their

* *Fremant omnes licet: dicam quod sentio : bibliothecas, mehercule, omnium
philosophorum unus mihi videtur xii tabularum libellus, si quis legum fontes et
capita viderit, et auctoritatis pondere, et utilitatis ubertate superare.’—De Oratore,
lib. i. cap. 44. The laws of the Twelve Tables ‘were compiled by the Decem-
virs at the beginning of the fourth century of Rome, and consisted of a revision
of the then existing laws, and some new ones which, according to a very ques-
tionable tradition, had been imported from Greece by three Commissioners, who
had been sent there for the purpose of collecting notices of such laws and
customs as might be useful to the Romans. In the adaptation of these they are
said to have been assisted by an Ionian Greek, named Hermodorus of Ephesus.
The new code, when completed, was engraved on twelve tablets of ivory or
brass, and set up publicly in front of the Rostra in the Comitium, that the enact-
ments might be seen and read by all the citizens. These were in the strictest and
most technical sense /eges, and may be considered as the early statute law of
Rome.’—ortensius, p. 56, 2nd ed.

> ‘Tdleness,’ according to Mr. Froude, was the crying evil of that age. Wil-
son, writing in 1553, says, ‘Mary, unto them that had rather slepe all daie then
wake one hour, chosing for any labour slothful idlenesse, thinkyng this life to be
none other but a continuall restyng place, unto such pardie it shall seeme painefull
to abide any labour. To learne Zogzgue, to learne the lawe, to some it semeth so
harde that nothyng can enter into their heddes, and the reason is that thei want a
will and an earnest minde to doe their endeuour.’—Arte of Rhetorigque, p. 31.

M

163-2 4 Ὸ THE GOVERNOUR.

doctrines to the moste noble studie of morall philosophie,
whiche teacheth both vertues, maners, and ciuile policie:*
wherby at the laste we shulde haue in this realme sufficiencie
of worshypfull lawyars, and also a publike weale equiualent
to the grekes or Romanes.”

@ ¢ And as the study and practice of Morall Philosophy (as Art doth witnesse)
it not fittest for men over yong, so likewise the study of the Law, which hath his
foundation in Morall Philosophy (0th having one end generall, namely the rectifying
of our manners) doth require some maturity of yeeres, and not to bee set upon by
infants in yeeres, judgment, and carriage.’—nglish Lawyer, p. 38, ed. 1631.

> Sir John Doderidge, writing at the end of the century, says : ‘In our owne
times in scorne some have called the crew of unlearned Lawyers, doctum guoddam
genus indoctorum hominum. But to returne that reproach from whence it sprang,
to the honour ofthe study of our Lawes be it spoken, that the Profession of our
Lawes hath zow, and formerly hath had, great numbers of students that have had
as long and as ample institution in those sciences, called liberall, as any of them.
And if I might remember old Originalls, from the time of the Norman Conquest
untill the latter dayes of King Henry the third, as well the Judges itinerate
through the counties, as those that were sedentarie in the King’s High Courts of
Justice, (which then for the most part followed his person,) were men excellently
skilled in all generall good learning, as doe witnesse the works of that worthy
Judge Henry de Bracton, and John Britton, sometimes a learned Bishop-of Here-
ford, skilfull in the Lawes of this Realme, who writ a treatise by commandement,
and writ of King Edward the first, as an Institution to the study of the Lawes of this
Realme, serving that time. So also was Martyn de Patchull, sometimes Deane of
Paul’s in London, of whom the said Bracton maketh honourable mention, together
with divers other noted men of rare learning, not only in the Lawes of this Realme,,
but in all forraine knowledge fit for their places. And these men exercised Ju-
diciall-functions in the Temporall Courts of this Realme, whereof our records,
being εὖ vetustatis et veritatis vestigia, the lively representations of time and truth,
and reputed the Treasures of the Kingdome, doe yeeld plentifull testimony. What
should I further commemorate the names and revive the memories of our worthy
ancestors, Herle, Bereford, Thorpe, Finden, Belknap, flourishing in the victorious
times of King Edward the Third ? whose deepe, short, subtile, pithie and learned
Law-Arguments argue moreover thus much, that they were sufficiently furnished
in that schoole learning which in those times was in most esteeme, Let me not
here forget or passe over in silence those excellent Judges in the raigne of King
Henry the sixt, Newton, Prisott, Fortescue, which man last named was first
Chauncellor to the Prince, and after Chiefe Justice of the King’s Bench, and was
excellently learned in Divinity, Philosophy, Law both Ecclesiasticall and the Lawes
of this Realme, as the little Treatise written by him in the praise of our Lawes in
the Latine tongue, and some other Manuscripts I have seene of his worke of a
higher subject doe, evidently declare.’—Znglish Lawyer, p. 33.

“
ΚΟ νὰ

\V

THE GOVERNOUR. 163

CHAPTER XV.

For what cause at this day there be in this realme fewe perfecte
schole maisters.

LORDE god, howe many good and clene wittes of children be
nowe a dayes perisshed by ignorant schole maisters.* Howe
litle substancial.doctrine is apprehended by the fewenesse of
good gramariens? Not withstanding I knowe that there be
some well lerned, whiche haue taught, and also do teache, but
god knoweth a fewe, and they with small effecte, hauing therto
no comforte, theyr aptist and moste propre scholers, after they
be well instructed in speakyng latine, and understanding some
poetes, being taken from theyr schole. by their parentes,” and
either be brought to the courte, and made lakayes or pages, or
els are bounden prentises ;° wherby the worshyp that the

* This is confirmed by Ascham, who says: ‘There is no one thing that
hath more either dulled the wits, or taken away the will of children from
learning, than the care they have to satisfy their masters in the making of Latins.
For the scholar is commonly beat for the making, when the master were more
worthy to be beat for the mending, or rather marring of the same, the master
many times being as ignorant as the child what to say properly and fitly to the
matter.’— Works, vol. iii. pp. 88; 89, ed. 1864, Erasmus complains of the brutality
and ignorance of schoolmasters of the period in language almost identical with
that in the text. ‘Jam hinc mihi conjecta, vir egregie, guam multa felicissima
ingenia perdant isti carnifices indocti ; sed doctrine persuasione tumidi, morosi, vino-
lenti, truces, et vel animi gratia czedentes, nimirum ingenio tam truculento, ut ex
alieno cruciatu capiant voluptatem. Hoc genus homines lanios aut carnifices esse
decuit, non pueritize formatores. Nec ulli crudelius excarnificant pueros, quam qui
nihil habent quod illos doceant. Hi quid agant in scholis nisi ut plagis et jurgiis
diem extrahant?’—De Pueris Jnstit. Opera, tom. i. p. 435, ed. 1540. While”
Peacham says ‘ For one discreete and able Teacher, you shall finde twenty igno-
rant and carelesse, who (among so many fertile and delicate wits as England
affoordeth) whereas they make one Scholler, they marre Ten.’—7he Compleat Gen-
tleman, p. 22, ed. 1622.

> From Erasmus we learn that the masters were frequently changed. ‘ Nihil
inutilius quam frequenter mutare preeeptorem. Ad eum enim modum Penelopes
tela texitur ac retexitur. At ego novi pueros, qui ante annum duodecimum,
plusquam quatuordecim preeceptoribus usi sunt, idque parentum incogitantia.’—
Ogera, tom. i. p. 429.

© Ascham also refers to this custom of the times. ‘ And when this sad-natured and

M2

164 THE GOVERNOUR.

maister, aboue any reward, couaiteth to haue by the praise of
his scholer, is utterly drowned ; wherof I haue herde schole
maisters, very well lerned, of good righte complayne. But yet
(as I sayd) the fewenesse of good gramariens is a great im-
pediment of doctrine.* (And here I wolde the reders shulde
marke that I note to be fewe good gramariens, and not none.)
I call nat them gramariens, whiche onely can teache or make
rules, wherby a childe shall onely lerne to speake congrue
latine,» or to make sixe versis standyng in one fote, wherin
perchance shal be neither sentence nor eloquence.° But I

hard-witted child is bet from his book, and becometh after either student of the com-
mon law,or page in the court, or serving man, or bound prentice to a merchant or to
some handicraft, he proveth in the end wiser, happier, and many times honester too,
than many of those quick wits do by their learning.’—Schoolmaster, p. 102,
ed. 1864.

« ‘The last act of Erasmus’s kindness to the dean’s (Colet) school was to find
out at Cambridge (where he then was) an usher, or second master, according to
the founder’s desire, to be under Mr. William Lilye. He inquired among the
masters of arts there ; but could meet with none, it seems, that cared for, or were
fit for that place, who would engage in it. They did not affect so laborious
an employment, however honourable the terms might be. One of the seniors
said in a flouting way, ‘* Who would lead such a slavish life among boys in a school
if he can have any other way of living ?”—Knight’s Life of Cole, pp. 147, 148.

» Erasmus gives the following picture of these grammarians. ‘Nunc quibus
ambagibus ac difficultatibus excruciantur pueri, dum ediscunt literarum nomina
priusquam agnoscant figuras, dum in nominum ac verborum inflexionibus coguntur
ediscere quot casibus modis ac temporibus eadem vox respondeat, veluti Musz,
genitivo et dativo singulari, nominativo et vocativo plurali. Legeris ἃ legor, ἃ lege-
rim, et ἃ legero. Que carnificina tum perstrepit in ludo quum hee ἃ pueris exi-
guntur.’—Ofera, tom. i. p. 441. And Pace takes evident pleasure in ridiculing
the labours of these precisians. ‘ Ad ultimum de Grammaticis (adeo in omnibus
et verbis et dictionibus dissident) piget loqui. Nam aliqui admittunt verba neu-
tralia, aliqui excludunt. Aliqui diphthongos in scribendo apponunt, aliqui detra-
hunt. Aliqui in scribendis dictionibus duplicibus utuntur literis, aliqui simplicibus ;
aded ut in ips quoque literé scribenda dissensio sit inter eos qualis est inter omnes,
et Aldum solum in scribend& causa, nam is solus alteram addit S.’—De Fructu,
Ρ. 53-
¢ Erasmus seems to allude to this practice: ‘L. Arbitror tibi frequenter ex
majoribus auditum, fuisse tempus quo pueri multis annis discruciabantur modis
significandi, et queestiunculis ex qua vi, et aliis indoctissimis nzeniis, magnaque am-
bitione dictabatur, ediscebatur, exponebatur Ebrardus et Florista, guod supererat
temporis ridiculis versiculis transigebatur.’—Dial. de Pronuntiatione, Opera, tom.

THE GOVERNOUR. 165

name hym ἃ gramarien, by the autoritie of Quintilian, that _
speakyng latine elegantly, can expounde good au- κι, Quin-
tours, expressynge the -inuention and disposition of Mian, Ui. ἡ.
the mater, their stile or fourme of eloquence, explicating the
figures as well of sentences “as” wordes, leuyng ‘nothyng,
persone, Or place, named by the autour, undeclared or hidde
from his scholers.* “Wherlore ΠΈΣ saith, it is nat inough
for hym to haue rad poetes, but all kyndes of writyng must
also be sought for ; nat for the histories only, but also for the
propretie of wordes, whiche communely do receiue theyr auto-
ritie of noble autours. More ouer without musike gramer may
nat be perfecte; for as moche as therin muste be spoken of
metres and harmonies, called vythmi in greke. Neither
if he haue nat the knowlege of sterres, he may understande
poetes, whiche in description of times (I omitte other things)
they traicte of the risinge and goinge downe of planettes.
Also he may nat be ignorant in philosophie, for many places
that be almooste in euerye poete fetched out of the most subtile
parte of naturall questions. . These be well nighe the wordes
of Quintilian.”

Than beholde howe fewe gramariens after this description
be in this realme.

Undoubtedly ther be in this realme many well lerned,

i. p. 773. And in another place he exclaims. ‘Deum immortalem ! quale secu-
lum erat hoc, quum magno apparatu disticha Joannis Garlandini adolescentibus,
operosis ac prolixis commentariis, enarrabantur. Quum ineptis versiculis dictandis,
repetendis, et exigendis magna pars temporis absumebatur.’—De Pueris Justit.,
Opera, tom. i, ps 444, ed. 1540. We learn from Harrison that in his day (6.
about 1577), ‘the rules of versifieng’ formed part of the curriculum at the
public schools.—Deseript. of Eng. p. E51.

® See Quintil. Instit. Orat. lib.. i.

> «Nec poetas legisse satis est : executiendum omne scriptorum genus, non
propter historias.modo, sed verba, quze frequenter jus ab auctoribus sumunt. Tum
nec citra musicen grammatice potest esse perfecta, quum ei de metris rhythmisque
dicendum sit: nec si rationem siderum ignoret, poetas intelligat ; qui ut alia
mittam, toties ortu occasuque signorum in declarandis temporibus utuntur : nec
ignara philosophiz, cum propter plurimos in. omnibus feré carminibus locos, ex
intima queestionum naturalium subtilitate repetitos.’—/zstit. Orat. lib. i. cap. 4, 8 4.

166 THE GOVERNOUR.

whiche if the name of a schole maister were nat so moche had
in contempte,* and also if theyr labours with abundant sala-
ries mought be requited,” were righte sufficient and able to
induce their herers to excellent lernynge, so they be nat plucked
away grene, and er they be in doctrine sufficiently rooted.
But nowe a dayes, if to a bachelar or maister of arte studie of
philosophie waxeth tediouse, if he haue a spone full of latine, he
wyll shewe forth a hoggesheed without any lernyng, and offre

* Erasmus, in his Dialogue De Pronuntiatione, says : “1. Plerique turpe putant
quenquam semper in grammatices professione manere. U. Quinam id turpius
quam pictorem nihil aliud profiteri quam pictorem? Quanquam fieri non potest
ut grammaticus nihil sit quam grammaticus, etiamsi in ceteris disciplinis non
perinde excellat ... . Et pulchrum est probri causa dicere grammatico nihil aliud
es quam grammaticus? Est aliquid et ventre contemptius, per quod ejiciuntur
crassiora corporis excrementa. Contemnat hoc qui volet, et videat quam floreant
cetera membra.’—Ofera, tom. i. p. 771, ed. 1540.

» Ascham says that grooms were better paid than schoolmasters. ‘It is pity
that commonly more care is had, yea and that among very wise men, to find out
rather a cunning man for their horse than a cunning man for their children. They
say nay in word, but they do so in deed, for to the one they will gladly give a
stipend of two hundred crowns by the year, and loth to offer to the other two
hundred shillings. God that sitteth in heaven laugheth their choice to scorn, and
rewardeth their liberality as it should, for he suffereth them to have tame and well-
ordered horses, but wild and unfortunate children, and therefore in the end they
find more pleasure in their horse than comfort in their children.’—Schoolmaster, Ὁ.
104, ed. 1864. Erasmus makes the same comparison as Ascham: ‘Sunt quos
animus sordidus deterret ἃ conducendo przceptore idoneo, οὐ pluris educitur equiso
quam fil formator.’— De Pueris Instit., Opera, tom. 1, p. 428, And in another
place he says, ‘ Ad hujus aut illius commendationem quemyis ludo preeficimus, feré
indoctum, interdum et moribus improbis, non huc spectantes, ut rei charissimze
civium liberis omnibus consilamus, sed ut unius famelici ventriculo prospiciamus.
Accuratins circumspicientes cui commiltamus unum equum, aut canem venatorem,
quam cui credamus totius civitatis pignora.’—Opera, tom. i. p. 766. Mulcaster,
the head master of St. Laurence Pountney School, pleading fifty years afterwards
the cause of his profession, says: ‘For whom in consideration of sufficient
abilitie and faithfull trauell I must still pray for good entertainement, which

will alway procure most able persons. For it is a great daunting to the

best able man, and a great cutting off of his diligent paynes, when he shall finde
his whole dayes trauell not able to furnish him of necessarie prouision, to do good
with the best, and to gaine withthe basest, nay, much lesse than the lowest, who
may entend to shift, when he must entend his charge ; and enrich himselfe, nay,
hardly feede himselfe, with a pure and poore conscience.’—/ositions, p. 237, ed.
1581.

THE GOVERNOUVR. 167

to teache grammer and expoune noble writers, and to be in
the roome of a maister: he wyll, fora small salarie, sette a false
colour of lernyng on propre wittes, whiche wyll be wasshed
away with one shoure of raine.* For if the children be absent
from schole by the space of one moneth, the best lerned of them
will uneth tell wheder Fado, wherby Eneaswas brought Vergilius
in to Itali, were other a man, a horse, a shyppe, Aeneid
or a wylde goose.” .Al thoughe their maister wyll 7%”

ἢ secundo,
perchance auaunte hym selfe tobe a good philosopher.

Some men perauenture do thinke that, at the begynning

5. Erasmus draws a still more painful picture of the schoolmasters of the period:
* Quam igitur belle prospicitur his pueris, qui vix dum quadrimi mittuntur in ludum
literarium, ubi preesidet preeceptor ignotus, agrestis, ac moribus parum sobriis, inter-
dum ne cerebri quidem sani, frequenter lunaticus, aut morbo comitiali obnoxius, aut
leprae, quam nunc vulgus scabiem gallicam appellat. Neminem enim hodie tam ab-
jectum, tam inutilem, tam nullius rei videmus, quem vulgus non existimet idoneum
moderando ludo literario.”—De Pueris /nstit., Opera, tom. i. p. 434. Mulcaster
advocated the foundation ofa college for training masters : ‘ Why should not teachers
be well prouided for, to continue their whole lifein the schoole, as Diuines, Lawyers,
Physicians doin theirseuerall professions? Thereby iudgement, cunning, and discretion
will grow in them: and maisters would proue olde men, and such as Xenophon setteth
ouer children in the schooling of Cyrus. Wheras now, the schoole being used but for
a shift, afterward to passe thence to the other professions, though-it send out very
sufficient men to them, itselfe remaineth too too naked, considering the necessitie of —
the thing. I conclude, therfore, that this trade requireth a particular college.’—
Positions, p. 25. In another place Erasmus says: ‘Jam illud in pzedagogiis
pene solenne est, ut aut tenues, quibus non est unde vivant, aut puerum aliquem
nudiustertius magistelli nomine donatum, pueris grammaticen docendis preeficiant,
tantum in hoc ut vivat.’—Dial. de Pronuntiatéone, Opera, tom. i. p. 771.

» Erasmus says: ‘ Pueros nostros ultra pubertatem domi detinemus, ac otio,
luxu, deliciisque corruptos, vix tandem in scholam publicam mittimus. _ Illic
ut res bene cedat, degustant aliquid grammatices, mox simul atque norunt inflectere
voces, et suppositum apposito.recte jungere, perdidicere grammaticam, et ad per-
turbatam dialecticen admoventur, ubisi quid etiam recte loqui didicerunt, dediscant
oportet. Sed infelicior erat zetas, que me puero modis significandi et questiun-
culis ex qua vi, pueros excarnificabat nec aliud interim docens quam perperam loqui.
Nimirum preceptores illi ne puerilia docere viderentur, grammaticen, dialectices ac
metaphysices difficultatibus obscurabant, nimirum ut przeposteré jam provectiores
post majores disciplinas grammaticen discerent. Quod nunc videmus aliquod
Theologis evenire cordatioribus, ut post tot laureas, post omnes titulos, ut jam illis
liberum non sit quicquam nescire, ad eos libros redire cogantur, qui pueris solent
prelegi.’—De Pueris Instit. Opera, tom. i. p. 443.

168 THE GOVERNOUR.

of lernynge, it forceth nat, all thoughe the maisters haue nat so
exacte doctrine as I haue reherced ; but let them take good
Fab. hede what Quintilian saith, that it is so moche the
Quint. better to be instructed by them that are beste lerned,
ent for as moche as it is difficultie to put out of the mynde
that whiche is ones settilled, the double bourden beinge painfull ᾿
to the maisters that shal succede, and verily moche more to
unteache than to teache. Wherfore it is writen that Timothe,
the noble musitian, demaunded alway a gretter rewarde of them
whom other had taught, than of them that neuer any thinge
lerned. These be the wordes of Quintilian or like.*

Also commune experience teacheth that no man will put
his sonne to a botcher to lerne, or he bynde hym prentise to
a taylour: or if he wyll haue hym a connyng goldsmith, wyll
bynde hym firste prentise to a tynkar: in these thynges poure
men be circumspect, and the nobles and gentilmen, who wolde
haue their sonnes by excellent lerning come unto honour, for
sparynge of coste, or for lacke of diligent serche for a
good schole maister, wilfully distroy their children, causinge
them to be taught that lerninge, whiche wolde require sixe or
seuen yeres to be forgoten”: by whiche tyme the more parte of

’ ® ¢Quanto sit melius optimis imbui, quantaque in eluendis, que semel inse-
derint, vitiis, difficultas consequatur ; quum geminatum onus succedentes premat,
et quidem dedocendi gravius ac prius, quam docendi. Propter quod Timotheum
clarum in arte tibiarum, ferunt duplices ab iis, quos alius instituisset, solitum exi-
gere mercedes, quam si rudes traderentur.’—Jmstit. Orat. lib. ii. cap. 3, ὃ 2.

> Some parents, indeed, considered that learning was altogether an unfit occu-
pation for a gentleman. Pace, in his letter to Colet, in which he dedicates to the
latter his book De Fructu, published at Basle in 1517; tellsa story characteristic of
some of the foxhunting squires of that day. ‘Quum duobus annis plus minus jam
preeteritis, ex Romana urbe in patriam rediissem, interfui cuidam convivio multis in-
cognitus. Ubi quum satis fuisset potatum, unus, nescio quis, ex convivis, non im-
prudens, ut ex verbis vultuque conjicere licuit, coepit mentionem facere de liberis
suis bene instituendis. Et primum omnium bonum preceptorem illis sibi querendum,
et scholam omnino frequentandam censuit. Aderat forte unus ex his, quos nos
generosos vocamus, et qui semper cornu aliquod a tergo pendens gestant, acsi etiam
inter prandendum venarentur. Is, audita literarum laude, percitus repentina ira
furibundus prorupit in hee verba. ‘‘ Quid nugaris,” inquit, ‘‘ Amice ? Abeant in
malam rem istze stultz literze ; omnes docti sunt mendici ; etiam Erasmus ille doc-

THE GOVERNOUR. 169

that age is spente, wherin is the chiefe sharpnesse of witte called
in latine acumen, and also than approcheth the stubborne age,
where the childe broughte up in pleasure disdayneth correction.

Nowe haue I all declared (as I do suppose) the chiefe im-
_ pechementes of excellent lernynge: of the reformation I nede
nat to speake, sens it is apparant, that by the contraries, men
pursuinge it ernestly with discrete iugement and liberalitie, it
wolde sone be amended.

CHAPTER XVI.
Of sondry fourmes of exercise necessary for euery gentilman.

ALL thoughe I haue hitherto aduaunced the commendation.
of lernyng, specially in gentil men, yet it is to be considered
that continuall studie without some maner of exercise, shortly
exhausteth the spirites vitall,* and hyndereth naturall decoction
and digestion, wherby mannes body is the soner corrupted and
brought in to diuers sickenessis, and finallye the life is therby
made shorter: where contrayrye wise by exercise, whiche is a
vehement motion (as Galene prince of phisitions defineth)
the helthe of man is preserued, and his strength increased : for
as moche the membres by meuyng and mutuall touching, do
waxe more harde, and naturall heate in all the body is therby
augmented. More ouer it maketh the spirites of a man more
stronge and valiant, so that, by the hardnesse of the membres,
tissimus (ut audio) pauper est, et in quadam sua epistolé vocat τὴν κατάρατον
πενίαν uxorem suam, id est, execrandam paupertatem, et vehementer conqueritur se
non posse illam humeris suis usque in βαθυκήτεα πόντον, id est, profundum mare, ex-
cutere. (Corpus Dei juro) volo filius meus pendeat potius quam literis studeat.
Decet enim generosorum filios apte inflare cornu, perite venari, accipitrem pulchre
gestare et educare. Studia vero literarum rusticorum filiis sunt relinguenda,””’ P.15.
* This was also the opinion of Montaigne, who says: ‘ Nostre lecon, se passant
comme par rencontre, sans obligation de temps et de lieu, et se meslant ἃ toutes nos
actions, se coulera sans se faire sentir : les jeux mesmmes et les exercices seront une

bonne partie de l’estude ; la course, la luicte, la musique, la danse, la chasse, le
maniement des chevaulx et des armes.’—Zssais, tom. i. p. 229, ed. 1854.

170 THE GOVERNOUR.

all labours be more tollerable ; by naturall hete the appetite is
the more quicke ; the chaunge of the substance receiued is the
more redy ; the nourisshinge of all partes of the-body is the
more sufficient and sure. By valiaunt motion of the spirites all
thinges superfluous be.expelled, and the condutis of the body

densed.* Wherfore this parte of phisike is nat to be contemned ᾿

or neglected in the education of children, and specially from
the age of xiiii yeres upwarde, in whiche tyme strength with
courage increaseth.? More ouer there be diuers maners of
exercises ; wherof some onely prepareth and helpeth digestion ;
some augmenteth also strength and hardnesse of body ; other
serueth for agilitie and nymblenesse; some for celeritie or spedi-
nesse.© There be also whiche ought to be used for necessitie

* ‘Nam quoniam vehementior motus exercitatio est, necesse quidem est tria
hzec ab eA perfici in corpore exercitando, membrorum duritiem ex mutuo ipsorum
attritu, genuini caloris augmentum, et spiritus citatiorem motum. Sequi vero hec
reliqua omnia privatim commoda quz corpus exercitiis accepta refert : utique ex
membrorum duritia, tum ut minus ex labore afficiantur, tumad labores robur. Ex
calore, tum deducendorum in corpus validum attractum, tum immutationem magis
expeditam, tum nutritionem magis felicem, tum ut singulz corporis partes sint (ut
ita dicam) perfusee. Cujus affectus beneficio et solida mollescere, et humida tenuari
et exiguos. corporez molis meatus laxiores fieri accidit. At ex spiritus valentiore
impetu et purgari hos omnes meatus necesse est, et excrementa expelli.’—De Sanitate
tuendé, lib. ii. fo. 19, ed. 1538.

» «Cui vero optimi status corpus contigit, is ad quartumdecimum usque annum,
jam traditam victus rationem observet, illo tamen in exercitationeservato modo, ut
neque immodicé se neque violenter exercitet, ne corporis id incremento sit in mora.
Hoc etatis animum quoque finxisse aptissimum est, idque potissimum probis con-
suetudinibus, et gravibus disciplinis, quee animo modestiam pariant. Quippe ad ea
quz sequente zetate circa corpus ejus moliri oportebit, maximo compendio sit animi
modestia, et ad parendum facilitas. A secundo vero seplennio usque ad expletum
tertium, si quidem ad robustissimum corporis habitum provehere hominem cupis,
aut militem eum strenuum, aut luctatorem, aut alias viribus insignem destinans,
utique de iis animi dotibus que ad scientiam sapientiamque pertinent minus
laborabis. Οὐδὲ enim ad mores spectant : hac maxime etate perfici absolvique
convenit.’—De San. tuend. lib. i. fo. 13 a.

°* ‘Jam singulas exercitationum seorsum persequi tempestivum videtur : illo
preesertim prius significato quod in his quoque complures differentiz inveniantur.
Quippe interim aliam partem aliud alio magis exercitium fatigat. Et quedam
lente motis fiunt, queedam ocyssime agitatis, et queedam robore ac nixu adhibitis,
queedam sine his. Ad hac, quedam cum robore pariter et celeritate, quedam
languidé. Ac quod violenter quidem sine velocitate exercetur, εὔτονον, id est valens,

THE GOVERNOUR. . 171

only. All these ought he that is a tutor toa noble man to haue
in remembrance, and, as opportunitie serueth, to put them in
experience. ° And specially them whiche with helth do ioyne

-commoditie (and as I moughte say) necessitie: consideryng

that be he neuer so noble or valiant, some tyme he is subiecte
to perile, or (to speake it more pleasauntly) seruant to fortune.
Touching suche exercises, as many be used within the house,
or in the shadowe, (as is the olde maner of speking *), as deam-
bulations, laborynge with poyses made of leadde or other me-
tall, called in latine A/seres, liftynge and throwyng the heuy
stone or barre, playing at tenyse, and diuers semblable exer-
cises, I will for this tyme passe ouer ; exhortyng them which
do understande latine, and do desire to knowe the commodities
of sondrye exercises, to resorte to the boke of Galene, of the
gouernance of helth, called in latine De Sanitate tuendéd, where
they shal be in that mater abundantly satisfied, and finde in
the readynge moche delectation ; whiche boke is translated in
to.latine, wonderfull eloquently by doctor Linacre, late mooste
worthy phisition to our mooste noble soueraigne lorde kynge
Henry the VIII-°

voco ; quod violenter et cum celeritate σφόδρον, idest, vehemens. Violenter autem
robustéve dicere, nihil referat. Fodere ergo, valens robustaque exercitatio est. Simili
modo et si quis quatuor simul equos habenis coerceat, impensé robusta exercitatio
est, non tamen celeris...... Superest ut de iis dicamus que celeritate peraguntur
citraque robur et violentiam. Id genus sunt cursus, et umbratilis armorum meditatio,
et cum duo summis manibus concertant, ἀκροχειρίσμους Greeci vocant, tum quee per
corycum et pilam exercitatio fit, utique cum ἃ distantibus et currentibus adminis-
tratur.’—De San. tuend. lib. ii. fo. 30, 31.

® “Οὐδ vero ab iis que extrinsecus sunt posita, ducuntur, ejusmodi sunt, quod
aut sub dio exercitatio fit, aut sub tecto, aut in mista umbra quam ὑποσυμμιγὴ
Greeci vocant.’—De San. tuend. lib. ii. fo. 29 b.

b ‘Quid pereunt stulto fortes altere lacerti ?

Exercet melius vinea fossa viros.’—Vartial, lib. xiv. 49.
‘Gravesque draucis
Alteras facili rotat lacerto.’—J¢zd. lib. vii. 67.

‘Idque multo certe magis fiet, seorsum si quis summis manibus, utraque apprehenso
pondere (cujusmodi sunt qui in paleestra A/feres dicuntur), porrectis his aut in sub-
limé erectis, eodem habitu persistat.’—Galen, De San. tuen. lib. ii. fo. 30 Ὁ.

¢ Thomas Linacre was born in 1460, and died in 1524. Paulus Jovius, a con-

172 THE GOVERNOUR.

And I wyll nowe only speake of those exercises, apt to
the furniture of a gentilmannes personage, adapting his body
to hardnesse, strength, and agilitie, and to helpe therwith hym
selfe in perile, whiche may happen in warres or other necessitie.

temporary, pays him the following compliment: ‘Inter alia vero preclara ejus
ingenii monumenta vel illud Galeni De Sanitate tuendd, opus ἃ Greco summa
Latini sermonis elegantia felicissimé traductum, immortalem sibi apud posteros
laudem comparavit.’—Descript. Brit. p. 49. And Pace, the friend of Colet, also
shows in what high estimation the learned Doctor was held. ‘ Est enim is summus
medicus, et par orator, ut tum experientia tum libris felicissimé editis, manifestum
fecit omnibus, et tenon nisi aliud agens, et ἐν παρέργῳ, id est horis supervacaneis, ag-
gressus est, ac quidam ex amantissimis ejus perszepe sunt mirati, quod quum natus sit
ad altissima quzeque, non recusaverit ad ista infima descendere, ut contenderet cum
Tryphone, vel nescio quo alio grammatico, de quibusdam minutiis casus vocativi.
Contendit tum ille feliciter, quia vicit. Sed mallem victoriam fuisse illustriorem
et similem illi quem Patavii olim reportavit. Nam quum in gymnasio Patavino
professionis artis medicz ei(ut nunc moris est) darentur insignia, publice non sine
summa laude disputavit, et seniorum medicorum adversaria argumenta acutissimé
refellit.’—De Fructu, p. 76. It is stated by Johnson, Linacre’s biographer, that the
first edition of the translation referred to in the text was printed at Paris by Guil-
laume Rubé, in 1517, and that presentation copies of the same edition were sent
to Wolsey, and Fox, Bishop of Winchester, of which one is still preserved in the
British Museum, and the other in the College (of Physicians ?) Library. The
author of the Repertorium Bibliographicum has fallen into an error (which has been
perpetuated by M. Brunet in his valuable Manuel du Libraire), in saying that there
are two presentation copies on vellum of Linacre’s translation of the Aethodus
Medendi in the Brit. Mus., one dedicated to Henry VIII. and the other to Wolsey.
The fact is only one of the volumes referred to is a copy of this work, the other
being a translation of the De Sanitate tuendé, but both are dedicated to the king,
although it appears from the prefatory epistle inscribed in each copy that Jo¢h were
presented to the Cardinal. Johnson’s description of the latter volume as ‘ a magni-
ficent specimen of the art of embellishment in the 16th century’ is far more appli-
cable to the copy of the Methodus Medendi. It is rather surprising to find that
Hallam, who refers to Johnson’s Life of Linacre on more than one occasion, says
in view of the above facts, ‘Though a first edition of his translation of Galen has
been supposed to have been printed at Venice in 1498, 12 seems to be ascertained
that none preceded that of Cambridge in 1521 ; Lit. of Eur. vol. i. p. 321, for, as
we have seen, Linacre’s translation of the De Sanitate tuendé was printed in 1517
at Paris, and this was quickly followed by a translation of the Methodus Medendi,
published at Paris in 1519: a translation of the De Temperamentis, published as
early as 1498, is ascribed to Linacre by Hoffmann (see Libliographisches Lexicon,
Part. ii. p. 134), who, however, makes no mention of the famous Cambridge
edition of 1521. And it was probably this omission on the part of Hoffmann
which caused Hallam to make the remark above quoted.

>’

THE GOVERNOUR. 173

CHAPTER XVII.
Exercises wherby shulde growe both recreation and profite.

WRASTLYNGE is a very good exercise in the begynnynge of
youthe, so that it be with one that is equall in strengthe, or
some what under, and that the place be softe, that in fallinge
theyr bodies be nat brused.*
There be diuers maners of wrastlinges, but the beste, as

well for helthe of body as for exercise of strengthe, is py,
whan layeng mutually their handes one ouera nothers Junge.
necke, with the other hande they holde faste eche “τί.
other by the arme, and claspyng theyr legges to gether,
they inforce them selfes with strengthe and agilitie to throwe
downe eche other, whiche is also praysed by Galene.” And
undoubtedly it shall be founde profitable in warres, in case
that a capitayne shall be constrayned to cope with his aduer-
sary hande to hande, hauyng his weapon broken or loste. Also
it hath ben sene that the waiker persone, by the sleight of

4 Strutt says, ‘ The citizens of London in times past are said to have been expert in
the art of wrestling, and annually upon St. James’s day they were accustomed to
make a public trial of their skill.’ Sports and Pastimes, p. 63, ed. 1801. The amuse-
ment seems to have been carried on to such an extent as to become a public nuisance,
for in the twelfth year of HenryIV., A.D. 1411, proclamation was made on the Friday
next before the feast of St. Bartholomew (the 24th August) in the following form :
‘ That no manere man ne child, of what estate or condicioun that he be, be so hardy to
wrestell, or make ony wrestlyng, within the Seintuary ne the boundes of Poules, ne
in non other open place within the Citee of Londone, up peyne of eniprisonement
of fourty dayes, and makyng fyn unto the Chaumbre, after the discrecioun of the
Mair and Aldermen.’—Riley’s Memorials of London, p. 580, ed. 1868,

> ἐφ δ vero luctantes inter se moliuntur cum robori augendo student, hzec aut
pulverem altum, aut palestram desiderant. Ea sunt ejusmodi: cum uterque
luctantium ambobus cruribus alterum alterius crus complectitur, deinde manibus
inter se collatis, altera cervici violenter incumbat, utique que e regione impediti
cruris est, altero brachio. Licebit et circa summum caput manibus injectis violenter
retrorsum se agat ac revellat. | Ejusmodi lucta utriusque luctatoris robur exercet :
quemadmodum et ea quz altero alterum cruribus cingente, vel ambo per ambo
mittente, fiunt. Nam hzec quoque utrumque ad robur preeparant. Infinitze alize
ejusmodi robustze exercitationes in palestra sunt.’—De San. tuend. lib. ii. fo. 31 a.

174 THE GOVERNOUR.

wrastlyng, hath ouerthrowen the strenger, almost or he coulde

fasten on the other any violent stroke. -
Also rennyng is bothe a good exercise and a laudable
solace.* It is written of Epaminondas the valiant capi-

Rennynge. °

tayne of Thebanes, who as well in vertue and prowesse
as in lerninge surmounted all noble men of his tyme, that daily
he exercised him selfe in the mornyng with rennyng and
leaping, in the euening in wrastling, to the intent that likewise
in armure he mought the more strongly, embracinge his aduer-
sary, puthymindaunger. And also that in the chase, rennyng
and leaping, he mought either ouertake his enemye, or beyng
pursued, if extreme nede required, escape him.” Semblably be-
* Galen explains the foot-races in vogue in his own day. ‘Est autem ἐκπλεθρί-
ew cumin plethro, id est in sexta parte stadii, quis prorsum retrorsumque vicissim,
idque szepe, in utramque partem sine flexu cursitans, unoquoque cursu breve quiddam
de spatio demit, quoad denique in unico gressu constiterit.’—De San. tuend. lib. ii.

fo. 31. Strutt quotes from an ancient MS, entitled Of Kuyghthode and Batayle,
supposed to have been written early in the 15th century, and now in the Cottonian

Library, Titus, A. xxiii. pt. i. p. 6, the following verses in praise of this exercise:

*In rennynge the exercise is good also,

To smyte first in fight, and also whenne

To take a place our foemen will forrenne,
And take it erst ; a!so to serche or sture,
Lightly to come and go, rennynge is sure.
Rennyng is also right good at the chace ;
And for to lepe a dike is also good :

For mightily what man may renne and lepe,
May well devict, and safe his party kepe.’

A comparison with the following passage of Vegetius would seem to show that the
writer of the MS, borrowed largely from this source: ‘Sed ad cursum precipue
assuefaciendi sunt juniores, ut majore impetu in hostes procurrant, ut loca opportuna
celeriter, quum usus venerit, occupent : vel adversariis idem facere volentibus przeoc-
cupent : ut ad explorandum alacriter pergant, alacrius redeant : ut fugientium terga
facilius comprehendant. Ad saltum etiam quo vel fossze transiliuntur, vel impediens
aliqua altitudo superatur, exercendus est miles.’"—De Re Militari, lib. i. cap. 9.

Ὁ «Postquam ephebus factus est, et palzestree dare operam cepit: non tam

magnitudini virium servivit, quam velocitati. Illam enim ad athletarum usum ;_

hance ad belli existimabat utilitatem pertinere. Itaque exercebatur plurimum
currendo et luctando, ad eum finem, quoad stans complecti posset, atque con-
tendere. In armis plurimum studii consumebat.’—Corn. Nepos, Zpaminon. cap.
2. It will be seen from the account given in the text that the Author’s translation

THE GOVERNOUR. 175

fore him dyd the worthy Achilles, for whiles his shippes laye at
rode, he suffred nat his people to slomber in ydlenesse, but daily
exercised them and himselfe in rennyng, wherin he was most
excellent and passed all other, and therfore Homere, throughout
all his warke, calleth hym swifte foote Achilles.*

The great Alexander beyng a childe, excelled all his com-
panions in rennyng; wherfore on a tyme one demaunded of hym
if he wolde renne at the great game of Olympus, wherto, out
of all partes of Grece, came the moste actife and valiant per-
sons to assay maistries ; wherunto Alexander answered in this
fourme, I wold very gladly renne ther, if I were sure to renne
with kinges, for if I shulde contende with a priuate person,
hauing respect to our bothe astates, our victories shulde nat
be equall.” Nedes muste rennynge be taken for a laudable
exercise, sens one of the mooste noble capitaynes of all the

ofthe above passage is enriched with some details which were apparently unknown
to Nepos. It is not a little remarkable that Plutarch has given us a description
the very reverse of this ; for in comparing the great Theban captain with Pelopidas,
he says, Ἦσαν δὲ καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν πεφυκότες ὁμοίως, πλὴν ὄτι τῷ γυμνάζεσθαι
μᾶλλον ἔχαιρε Πελοπίδας, τῷ δὲ μανθάνειν ᾿Επαμεινώνδας, καὶ τὰς διατριβὰς ἐν τῷ
σχολάζειν ὃ μὲν περὶ παλαίστρας καὶ κυνηγέσια, ὃ δὲ ἀκούων τι καὶ φιλοσοφῶν
éroeito.—Lelopidas, cap. 4.

* It was not, however, for the purpose of keeping his men in good training,
but to do honour to the dead Patroclus, that Achilles instituted the races described
in the twenty-third book of the Iliad, in which moreover it is expressly mentioned
that he did ot himself take part. Mr. Gladstone says,‘ We may observe how
closely it belonged to the character of the greatest heroes to excel in every feat of
gymnastic strength as well as in the exercises of actual warfare. The kings and
leading chiefs all act in the Games, with the qualified exception of Agamemnon,
whose dignity could not allow him to be actually judged by his inferiors, but yet
who appears as a nominal candidate, and receives the compliment of a prize,
though spared the contest for it; and with the exception also of Achilles, who
could not contend for his own prizes.’— Studies on Homer, vol. i. Ὁ. 324.

> Ποδωκέστατος yap τῶν ἐφ᾽ ἡλικίας . γενόμενος νέων, καὶ τῶν ἑταίρων αὐτὸν ἐπ'
᾿Ολύμπια παρορμώντων, ἠρώτησεν, εἰ βασιλεῖς ἀγωνίζονται" τῶν δὲ οὐ φαμένων, ἄδικον
εἶπεν εἶναι τὴν ἅμιλλαν, ἐν ἢ νικήσει μὲν ἰδιώτας, νικηθήσεται δὲ BaoiAe’s.—Plutarch,
De Alex. Virt, 9. Curtius tells the story rather differently. ‘Ergo dicenti-
bus, ‘‘quoniam cursu plurimum valeret, debere profiteri nomen suum inter eos, qui
Olympicis ludis certaturi essent, cognominis sibi regis exemplo ; magnam eA re per
Greeciam sibi famam comparaturum.” ‘‘Facerem,” inquit, ‘si reges haberem
adversarios.” ’—Lib. i. cap. 2, § 17.

176 THE GOVERNOUR.

Romanes toke his name of rennyng, and was called Papirius
Cursor, which is in englisshe, Papirius the Renner.* And
also the valiant Marius the Romane, whan he had bene
seuen tymes Consul, and was of the age of foure score yeres,
exercised him selfe dayly amonge the yonge men of Rome, in
suche wyse that there resorted people out of ferre partes to
beholde the strength and agilitie of that olde Consul, wherin he
compared with the yonge and lusty soudiours.”

There is an exercise whiche is right profitable in exstreme
Swym. Gaunger of warres, but by cause there semeth to be
mynge. some perile in the lernynge therof, and also it hath nat
bene of longe tyme moche used, specially amonge noble men,
perchance some reders wyll litle esteme it, I meane swym-
mynge.° But nat withstandyng, if they reuolue the imbecilitie

* The author had apparently read the following passage in Livy: ‘Inde ad
triumphum decessisse Romam Papirium Cursorem scribunt, qui eo duce Luceriam
receptam Samnitesque sub jugum missos auctores sunt. Et fuit vir haud dubie
dignus omni bellicé laude, non animi solum vigore, sed etiam corporis viribus ex-
cellens. Preecipua pedum pernicitas inerat, que cognomen etiam dedit : victorem-
que cursu omnium eetatis suze fuisse ferunt.’-—Lib. ix. cap. 16.

> Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ Μάριος φιλοτίμως πάνυ καὶ μειρακιωδῶς ἀποτριβόμενος τὸ γῆρας
καὶ τὴν ἀσθένειαν, ὁσημέραι κατέβαινεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ μετὰ τῶν νεανίσκων γυμναζό-
μενος ἐπεδείκνυε τὸ σῶμα κοῦφον μὲν ὅπλοις, ἔποχον δὲ ταῖς ἱππασίαις, καίπερ οὐκ
εὐσταλὴς γεγονὼς ἐν γήρᾳ τὸν ὄγκον, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς σάρκα πεῤιπληθῆ καὶ βαρεῖαν ἐνδεδωκώς.
Ἔνίοις μὲν οὖν ἤρεσκε ταῦτα πράττων, καὶ κατιόντες ἐθεῶντο τὴν φιλοτιμίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ
τὰς GulAdas.’—Plutarch, Marius, 34.

© Probably the earliest treatise devoted specially to this subject is one called
De Arte Natandi, by Everard Digby, which was published in 1587. The author,
a Cambridge Master of Arts, apologises in his preface for writing a book on the
subject, which he asserts is ‘nuper enata facultas aut saltem calamo nostro ab in-
fimis umbris revocata (cum sit jocus recens prorsus ac juvenilis),’ but explains that
the number of deaths amongst the undergraduates by drowning in the Cam war-
rants him in recommending the scientific teaching of swimming. ‘ Evidentius
hujus veritatis ususque simul natandi pre ceteris insignis, clarum nobis et apertum
exhibent testimonium, /ot guotannis aguis Cantabrigiensibus clari generis absorpti
tuvenes et pereuntes funditits, Qui arte isthac orbati prorsus ac destituti, horz
momento, vitalia simul lumina, et triste nobis et eorum desiderium reliquerunt.
Horum necem immaturam interitumque violentum (humanum cum sit humanis
casibus ingemiscere) misericordia multoties prosecutus, dolebam equidem, et vehe-
menter angebar artem natandi tam diu tot tantorumque-magno cum dispendio de-
lituisse orbam, parvam, ignotam. Hinc primum traduxit originem pia isthec

ὟΝ :

THE GOVERNOUR. 177

of our nature, the hasardes and daungers of batayle, with the
examples which shall herafter be showed, they wyll (I doubt
nat) thinke it as necessary to a capitayne or man of armes, as
any that I haue yet rehersed. The Romanes, who aboue all
thinges had moste in estimation martiall prowesse, they had
alarge and spaciouse felde without the citie of Rome, whiche
was called Marces felde, in latine Campus Martius, wherin
the youth of the citie was exercised. This felde cy,

adioyned to the ryuer of Tyber, to the intent that 7artius.

as well men as children shulde wasshe and refresshe them
in the water after their labours, as also lerne to swymme.*
And nat men and children only, but also the horses, that
by suche usaige they shulde more aptely and boldly passe
ouer great riuers, and be more able to resist or cutte the

erga patriam industria nostra, et brevis tractatiis hujus regulas paucas, veras, salu
tares, demonstrationemque lucidam ac apertam continentis calamus noster primum
initium derivavit.’ In the MS. before alluded to, entitled The Book of Knyght-
hode and Batayle, there are some verses in praise of swimming, evidently a mere
metrical translation of a passage of Vegetius, which, for the purpose of com-
parison, is printed below. The editor is not aware that this fact has been remarked
by any previous writer.
“ΤῸ swymme is eek to lerne in sommer seson,
Men fynde not a brugge as ofte as flood ;
Swymming to voyde and chace an oste wil eson ;
Eke after reyn the Ryvers gothe wood (2.6. rage).
That every man in th’ost con swymme is good,
Knyght, squyer, footman, cook and cosynere,
And grome and page for swymmyng is to lere.’

‘Natandi usum estivis mensibus omnis zequaliter debet tiro condiscere, Non enim
semper flumina pontibus transeuntur : sed et cedens et insequens natare cogitur
frequenter exercitus: seepe repentinis imbribus vel niveis solent exundare torrentes.’
—De Re Militari, lib. i. cap. το. And again ‘Seu mare seu fluvius vicinus est
sedibus, zestivo tempore, ad natandum cogendi sunt omnes.’—/0rd. lib. iii. cap. 4.

* ‘Tdeoque Romani veteres, quos tot bella et continuata pericula ad omnem rei
militaris erudierant artem, campum Martium vicinum Tiberi delegerant, in quo
juventus post exercitium armorum, sudorem pulveremque delueret, ac lassitudinem
cursfis natandi labore deponeret. Non solim autem pedites, sed et equites ip-
sosque equos vel lixas, quos galearios vocant, ad natandum exercere percommodum
est, ne quid imperitis, quum necessitas imminebit, eveniat.’— Vegetius, De Re Mili-
tari, lib. i. cap, 10.

N

178 THE GOVERNOUR.

waues, and nat be aferde of pirries* or great stormes. For it
hath ben often tymes sene that, by the good swimminge
of horses, many men haue ben saued, and contrary wise, by
a timorouse royle* where the water hath uneth come to his
bely, his legges hath foltred, wherby many a good and propre
Oratius ™man hath perisshed. What benefite receiued the hole
Cocles. citie of Rome by the swymmynge of Oratius Cocles,
whiche is a noble historie and worthy to be remembred. After
the Romanes had expelled Tarquine their kynge, as I haue
before remembred, he desired ayde of Porsena, kynge of Thus-
canes, a noble and valiant prince, to recouer eftsones his realme
and dignitie ; who with a great and puissant hoste besieged the
citie of Rome, and so sodaynely and sharpely assaulted it, that
it lacked but litle that he ne had entred into the citie with his
host ouer the bridge called Swd/iczus ; where encountred with
hym this Oratius with a fewe Romanes. And whiles this noble
capitayne, beinge alone, with an incredible strengthe resisted
all the hoste of Porcena that were on the bridge, he com-
maunded the bridge to be broken behynde hym, where
with all the Thuscanes theron standyng fell in to the
great riuer of Tiber, but Oratius all armed lepte in to the
water and swamme to his company, al be it that he was
striken with many arowes and dartes, and also greuouslye
wounded.” Nat withstandynge by his noble courage and feate
of swymmyng he saued the citie of Rome from perpetuall
seruitude, whiche was likely to haue ensued by the returne of
the proude Tarquine.

* See the Glossary.

> The author has followed the account given by Plutarch : “᾿Ωθουμένων δὲ τῶν
πολεμίων διὰ τῆς ξυλίνης γεφύρας ἐκινδύνευσεν ἣ Ῥώμη κατὰ κρᾶτος ἁλῶναι. Πρῶτος
δὲ Κόκλιος 'Ὡράτιος καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ δύο τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων ἀνδρῶν, ‘Epuhvios καὶ Λάρτιος,
ἀντέστησαν περὶ τὴν ξυλίνην γέφυραν. Οὗτος ἑστὼς πρὸ τῆς γέφυρας ἠμύνετο τοὺς
πολεμίους, ἄχρις οὗ διέκοψαν of σὺν αὐτῷ κατόπιν τὴν γέφυραν. Οὕτω δὲ μετὰ τῶν
ὅπλων ἀφεὶς ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἀπενήξατο καὶ προσέμιξε τῇ πέραν ὄχθῃ δόρατι
Τυῤῥηνικῷ βεβλημένος τὸν γλουτόν.--- Ποῤῥίεοία, 16. Livy, on the contrary, says :
‘ Multisque superincidentibus telis zzcolumis ad suos tranavit, rem ausus plus famz
habituram ad posteros, quam fidei,’ lib. ii. cap, 10, and he is supported by
Valerius Maximus, lib. iii. cap. 2, § 1.

W

THE GOVERNOUR. 179

Howe moche profited the feate in swymmynge to the
valiant Julius Cesar, who at the bataile of Alexandri,
on a bridge beinge abandoned of his people for the 2“
multitude of his enemyes, whiche oppressed them, swym-
whan he moughte no lenger sustaine the shotte ”””*
of dartes and arowes, he boldly lepte in to the see, and,

diuynge under the water, escaped the shotte and swamme the

‘space of CC pasis to one of his shyppes, drawynge his

cote armure with his teethe after hym, that his enemies
shulde nat attayne it. And also that it moughte some what
defende hym from theyr arowes. And that more maruaile was,
holdynge in his hande aboue the water certayne lettres, whiche
a litle before he had receyued from the Senate.*

Before hym Sertorius, who of the spanyardes was named the
second Anniball for his prowesse, in the bataile that
Scipio faughte agayne the Cimbres, whiche inuaded
Fraunce. Sertorius, when, by negligence of his people, his
enemyes preuailed and put his hoste to the warse, he beinge
sore wounded, and his horse beinge lost, armed as he was in
a gesseron, holdyng in his handes a tergate, and his sworde,
he lepte in to the ryuer of Rone, whiche is wonderfull
swyfte, and, swymmyng agayne the streme, came to his
company, nat without greatte wondryng of all his enemies,
whiche stode and behelde hym.”

Sertorius.

* ‘Alexandriz, circa oppugnationem pontis, eruptione hostium subita compulsus
in scapham, pluribus eodem precipitantibus, cum desiluisset in mare, nando per
ducentos passus evasit ad proximam navem, elata lzeva, ne libelli quos tenebat made-
fierent ; paludamentum mordicus trahens, ne spolio potiretur hostis.’—Sueton.
Fulius, 64. Plutarch has rather a different version of the same feat, as follows.
Περὶ τῇ Φάρῳ μάχης συνεστώσης, κατεπήδησε μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ χώματος εἰς ἀκάτιον
καὶ παρεβοήθει τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις, ἐπιπλεόντων δὲ πολλαχόθεν αὐτῳ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων
ῥίψας ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἀπενήξατο μόλις καὶ χαλεπῶς, “Ore καὶ λέγεται βιβλίδια
κρατῶν πολλὰ μὴ προέσθαι βαλλόμενος καὶ βαπτιζόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνέχων ὑπὲρ τῆς
θαλάσσης τὰ βιβλίδια τῇ ἑτέρᾳ χειρὶ νήχεσθαι" τὸ δὲ ἀκάτιον εὐθὺς eBvbicOn.—Plut.
Fulius Cesar, 49.

> Πρῶτον μὲν οὖν, Κίμβρων καὶ Τευτόνων ἐμβεβληκότων eis Γαλατίαν, orpa-
τευόμενος ὑπὸ Καιπίωνι, κακῶς ἀγωνισαμένων τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τροπῆς γενομένης,

Ν 2

180 THE GOVERNOUR.

The great kynge Alexander lamented that he had nat
lerned to swimme. For in Inde whan he wente agayne the
puissaunt kynge Porus, he was constrayned, in folowynge
his entreprise, to conuay his hoste ouer a ryuer of wonderfull
greatnesse ; than caused he his horse men to gage the water,
whereby he firste perceiued that it came to the brestis of the
horsis, and, in the myddle of the streme, the horsis wente in
water to the necke, wherwith the fotemen beinge aferde, none
of them durst auenture to passe ouer the ryuer. That per-
ceiuynge Alexander with a dolorouse maner in this wyse
lamented. O howe moste unhappy am I of all other that
haue nat or this tyme lerned to swymme? And therwith
he pulled a tergate from one of his souldiours, and castynge
it in to the water, standynge on it, with his spere conuaied
hym selfe with the streme, and gouernyng the tergate wysely,
broughte hym selfe unto the other side of the water;
wherof his people beinge abasshed, some assayed to swymme,
holdyng faste by the horses, other by speares and other lyke

weapons, many upon fardels and trusses, gate ouer the ryuer ;-

in so moche as nothinge was perisshed sauue a litle bagage,
and of that no great quantitie lost.

What utilitie was shewed to be in swymmynge at the
firste warres whiche the Romanes had agayne the Carthagi-
nensis? It happened a bataile to be on the see betwene them,
where they of Carthage beinge vainquisshed, wolde haue sette
up their sailes to haue fledde, but that perceiuynge diuers
yonge Romanes, they threwe them selfes in to the see, and
swymmynge unto the shippes, they enforced theyr ennemies
to stryke on lande, and there assaulted them so asprely, that

ἀποβεβληκὼς τὸν ἵππον kal κατατετρωμένος τὸ σῶμα, τὸν Ῥοδανὸν διεπέρασεν αὐτῷ
τε τῷ θώρακι καὶ θυρεῷ πρὸς ἐναντίον ῥεῦμα πολὺ νηχόμενος" οὕτω τὸ σῶμα ῥωμαλέον
ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ διάπονον τῇ ἀσκήσει.---Ῥ]υῖ, Sertorius, 3° -

5. This is another and still more remarkable instance of the way in which the
author has improved (?) upon history. The allusion is evidently to the following
passage in Plutarch. Τῇ δὲ καλουμένῃ Νύσῃ τῶν Μακεδόνων dxvobytay προσάγειν
(καὶ γὰρ ποταμὸς ἣν πρὸς αὐτῇ βαθύς) ἐπιστὰς, ‘Tl γὰρ, εἶπεν, ὃ κάκιστος ἐγὼ νεῖν
οὐκ ἔμαθον ;᾽ Καὶ ἤδη τὴν ἀσπίδα ἔχων περᾶν ἠθέλησεν ---“4 Ἰεχαγιαῖε,, 58.

4“
a

THE GOVERNOUR. 181

the capitaine of the Romanes, called Luctatius, mought easily
take them.* )

Nowe beholde what excellent commoditie is in the feate of
swymmyng ; sens no kyng, be he neuer so puissaunt or perfecte
in the experience of warres, may assure hym selfe from the ne-
cessities whiche fortune sowethe amonge men that be mortall.
And sens on the helth and saulfe garde of a noble capitayne,
often tymes dependeth the weale of a realme, nothing shulde
be kepte from his knowlege, wherby his persone may be in
euery ieoperdie preserued.

Amonge these exercises it shall be conuenient to
lerne to handle sondrye waipons,” specially the , efence
sworde and the batayle axe, whiche be for a noble wits
man moste conuenient. But the most honorable “¢??*
exercise, in myne opinion, and that besemeth the astate of
euery noble persone, is to ryde suerly and clene ona Rydynge

great horse and a roughe,° whiche undoubtedly nat poate,
onely importeth a maiestie and drede to inferiour Aorsis.

* *Qualis deinde roboris illi milites, qui vehementi ictu remorum concitatam
fugze Punicam classem, nantes lubrico pelagi, quasi camporum firmitate, pedites in
littus retraxerunt ?’—Val. Max. lib. iii. cap. 2, § 10. It will be seen that the
name of the Roman general has been supplied by the author, with other details
according to his fancy. It is curious to observe how subsequent writers have ap-
propriated the result of Sir Thomas Elyot’s labours without acknowledging their
obligation ; thus this passage, along with some other portions of Zhe Governour,
has been transferred bodily by Peacham to the pages of his ‘ Compleat Gentleman,’
published in 1622.

> Fencing must have formed a necessary part of a young nobleman’s education
in the author’s time. In a letter to Secretary Cromwell from his son’s tutor, we
read: ‘The order of his studie, as the houres lymyted for the Frenche tongue,
writinge, Alaienge att weapons, castinge of accomptes, pastimes of instruments, and
suche others, hath bene devised and directed by the prudent wisdome of Mr,
Southwell. ... Mr. Cheney and Mr, Charles in lyke wise endevoireth and em-
ploieth themselves, accompanienge Mr. Gregory in lerninge, amonge whome ther
is a perpetuall contention, strife, and conflicte, and in maner of an honest envie
who shall do beste, not oonlie in the ffrenche tongue, but also in writynge, playenge
at weapons, and all other theire exercises.’—Ellis’s Orig. Letters, 3rd Series, vol.
i. p. 342.

* We learn from Wilson that the sons of noblemen were skilful riders at a very

182 THE GOVERNOUR.

persones, beholding him aboue the common course of other
men, dauntyng a fierce and cruell beaste, but also is no litle
socour, as well in pursuete of enemies and confoundyng them,
as in escapyng imminent daunger, whan wisdome therto ex-
horteth. Also a stronge and hardy horse dothe some tyme
more domage under his maister than he with al his waipon:
and also settethe forwarde the stroke, and causethe it to lighte
with more violence.

Bucephal, the horse of great kynge Alexander, who suffred
none on his backe saulfe onely his maister, at the bataile
of Thebes beinge sore wounded, wolde nat suffre the
kinge to departe from hym to another horse, but persistyng in

Bucephal.

early age. Speaking of the young Duke of Suffolk, nephew of Henry the Eighth,
he says: ‘In this tyme (besides his other giftes of the mynde whiche passed all
other and were almoste incredible) folowyng his father’s nature, he was so delited
with ridyng and runnyng in armour upon horsebacke, and was so comely for that
facte, and could do so well in chargyng his staffe, beyng but xiv yeres of age,
that menne of warre, even at this houre, mone muche the want of suche a worthie
gentleman. Yea, the Frenche men that first wondered at his learnyng, when he
was there among them, and made a notable oracion in Latine, were much more
astonied when thei saw his comely ridyng, and litle thought to finde these twoo
ornamentes ioyned bothe in one, his yeres especially beyng so tender and his
practise of so small tyme.’—Arte of Rhetorique, p. 16. King James I. recom-
mends this form of exercise to his son, ‘for it becommeth a Prince best of any man
to be a faire and good horse-man. Use, therefore, to ride and danton great and
couragious horses, that I may say of you as Phillip saide of Great Alexander, his
sonne, Μακεδονία ob σὲ χωρεῖ. And specially use such games on horse-backe as may
teach you to handle your armes thereon, such as the tilt, the ring, and lowe-ryding
for handling of your sworde.’—BagtAiwoy Δῶρον, lib. iii. p..121. The reader will
probably be of opinion that ‘ The Governour’ must have been carefully studied by
the Royal author. Ascham, a few years later, said: ‘ Fond schoolmasters neither can
understand, nor will follow this good counsel of Socrates, but wise riders in their office
can and will do both ; which is the only cause that commonly the young gentlemen
of England go so unwillingly to school, and run so fast to the stable. For in very
deed, fond schoolmasters, by fear, do beat into them the hatred of learning, and
wise riders, by gentle allurements, do breed up in them the love of riding. They
find fear and bondage in schools, they feel liberty and freedom in stables ; which
causeth them utterly to abhor the one, and most gladly to haunt the other. And
I do not write this, that in exhorting to the one, I would dissuade young gentlemen
from the other ; yea, I am sorry with all my heart that they be given no more to
riding than they be. For of all outward qualities, to ride fair is most comely for

\t

THE GOVERNOUR. 183

his furiouse courage, wonderfully continued out the bataile,
with his fete and tethe betyng downe and destroyenge many
enemies.*. And many semblable maruailes of his strength he
shewed. Wherfore Alexander, after the horse was slayne,
made in remembrance of hym a citie in the countray of India
and called it Bucephal, in perpetual memorie of so worthy a
horse, whiche in his lyfe had so well serued hym.”

What wonderfull enterprises dyd Julius Cesar achieue by
the helpe of his horse? Whiche nat onely dyd excell all other
horsis in fiercenesse and swyfte rennynge, but also was in some
parte discrepant in figure from other horsis, hauing his fore
hoeues like to the feete of a man. And in that figure Plinius
writeth that he sawe hym kerued before the temple of Venus.®

Other remembrance there is of diuers horsis by whose
monstruous power men dyd exploite incredible affaires: but

himself, most necessary for his country; and the greater he is in blood, the greater
is his praise, the more he doth exceed all other therein. It was one of the three
excellent praises amongst the noble gentlemen of the old Persians, ‘ Always to say
truth, to ride fair, and shoot well,’ and so it was engraven upon Darius’s tomb, as
Strabo beareth witness,

‘ Darius the king lieth buried here,
Who in riding and shooting had never peer.’

—Schoolmaster, Ὁ. 113, ed. 1864.

® Pliny, whom Sir Thomas Elyot had evidently read, does not relate this last
circumstance. He merely says: ‘Neminem hic alium, quam Alexandrum, regio
instratus ornatu, recepit in sedem, alios passim recipiens, Idem in przliis memo-
rate cujusdam perhibetur oper, Thebarum oppugnatione vulneratus in alium
transire Alexandrum non passus.’—JVat. ist. lib. viii. cap. 64. But Plutarch
describes the peculiar devotion of the horse rather differently, and Sir Thomas Elyot
has apparently confused the two accounts. ‘O δὲ Βουκεφάλας γυμνὸς μὲν dv
παρεῖχεν ἀναβῆναι τῷ ἱπποκόμῳ, κοσμηθεὶς δὲ τοῖς βασιλικοῖς προκοσμίοις καὶ περιδε-
ραίοις οὐδένα προσίετο, πλὴν αὐτὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον " τοῖς δ᾽ ἄλλοις, εἰ πειρώμενοι προσίοιεν,
ἐναντίος ἐπιτρέχων ἐχρεμέτιζε μέγα καί συνήλλετο, καὶ κατεπάτει τοὺς μὴ πρόσω ἴεσθαι
μηδ᾽ ἀποφεύγειν φθάσανταΞ.---7)6 Solert. Animal. cap. 14.

> Multa preeterea ejusdem modi, propter que rex defuncto ei duxit exequias :
urbemque tumulo circumdedit nomine ejus.—Udi supra. Kal πόλιν οἰκίσας ἐπ’
αὐτῷ παρὰ τὸν Ὑδάσπην Βουκεφαλίαν mpoonydpevoe.—Plutarch. Alex. 61.

¢ ‘Nec Czsaris dictatoris quenquam alium recepisse dorso equus traditur: idem-
que humanis similes pedes priores habuisse, hac effigie locatus ante Veneris gene-
tricis edem.’— Ubi supra.

184 THE GOVERNOUR.

by cause the reporte of them contayneth thinges impossible,
and is nat writen by any approued autour: I will nat in this
place reherce them: sauyng that it is yet supposed
that the castell of Arundell in Sussex was made by one
Beauuize, erle of South hamton, for a monument of his horse
called Arundell,* whiche in ferre countrayes had saued his
maister from many periles. Nowe considerynge the utilitie in
rydynge greatte horses, hit shall be necessary (as I haue sayd),

Arundell,

* The Romance of Bevis, or, as he is more commonly styled, Sir Bevis of
Southampton, was one of the most popular and best known legends in the middle
ages. There is good ground, however, for supposing that Sir Thomas Elyot was
the first writer of any note who connected Bevis with the Castle through the
medium of his horse. It is a curious fact that the editor has been unable to find
among the numerous writers who have treated either of the legend of Sir Bevis or
of the topography of Arundel, a single instance in which the authority of Sir
Thomas Elyot in reference to the above statement is quoted, though, as will be
seen presently, one writer, who was himself a cotemporary of the author, has ap-
propriated his language wholesale without acknowledgment, and has apparently
down to the present time escaped detection. In order that the reader may form
his own opinion of the extent of this plagiarism, and as the work in which it occurs
is not generally accessible, it has been deemed expedient to print the passage zz
extenso. It occurs in Legh’s Accidens of Armory, which was published in 1562,
only thirty years after the first appearance of ‘The Governour.’ In describing a
coat of armes which bears ‘a horse argent upon a field gules,’ Legh says: ‘Buce-
phalus, the horse of the great kyng Alexaunder, in battale, wolde suffer no man to come
on his backe, but onely the kynge. And beyng sore wounded wolde not suffer hym to de-
parte from him and take an other horse, but wonderfully continued out the battayle ;
with his feete beating downe and his teathe biting he destroied many enemies. Where-

fore Alexaunder, after the horse was slayne, made in the remembraunce of him a citie
in the countrey of India, and called it Bucephala, What wonderfull enterprises did
Fulius Cesar acheve by the helpe of his horse, the which had his fore feete like the feete
of a man, as Plinie writeth, The horse Arundel, of no littell fame in Britaine
lande, amongst these is worthy to be remembered, for whose good seruice the olde
renowmed Beauice of South hampton buylded the castell of Arundel in Southsex.
O most worthy to be put in Fame’s Boke, that wolde not forgett the seruice of a
beast, where nowe in this tyme they be that do forgett the seruice of men. Yea,
some there be, that make no remembraunce of their owne fathers, who tenderly
fostered them not with forgettfulnes unto there dying day,’ p. 94. On comparing
the words in italics in the above passage with those of the text the reader will not ~
fail to see that Legh’s final apostrophe ought to have recoiled with increased force
upon his own head. Camden, in his ‘ Britannia,’ the first edition of which was
published in 1586, repudiates the etymology which found favour with Elyot, but
makes no allusion to the latter. He says: ‘Causa nominis nec ab Arundelio
Beuesii fabulosi equo, nec ex Charudo Cimbrice Chersonensi promontario, quod

THE GOVERNOUR. ! 185

that a gentiJman do lerne to ride a great and fierce horse
whiles he is tender and the brawnes and sinewes of his thighes

Goropius per quietem vidit, sed ex valle in qua sedit ad Arun flumen,’ &c., p.157. In
1722, a new edition of the ‘Britannia’ came out under the auspices of Gibson, who,
without mentioning any names, says : ‘ However ¢here are those who, on one hand,
contend for the story of Bevis’s horse, and on the other hand will by no means
admit this derivation from Arun, and they offer their reasons for both. That Bevis
was founder of the Castle (they say) ἐς a current opinion handed down by tradition,
and there is a tower in it still known by the name of Bevis’s Tower, which they
tell you was his ownapartment. Besides, they think it natural enough to imagine,
that the name of a horse might be Arundel, from his swiftness, since that word in
French signifies a swallow, and the present arms of the town (which is corporate
by prescription) are a swallow. Now why (say they) might not Bevis’s Arundel as
well have the honour of naming a town wherein his master had a particular interest
as Alexander's Bucephalus had of a city ?’—Zbid. vol. i. p. 244. The anonymous
author of ‘Magna Britannia,’ a work published in 1730, mentions what he calls
‘the current opinion concerning the foundation of the Castle,’ but he contents
himself with following Gibson’s exposition of it, and cites no authorities for the
story. In 1789 Mr. Gough revised and continued the Work which Gibson had
initiated, and for the latter’s note upon the etymology substituted the following
statement : ‘In favour of the derivation of its name from Bevis’s horse Arundel z¢
is urged that there is still a tower in the castle called after Bevis’s name, and said
to be built by him, and his horse might have his name from his swiftness, answering
to the French Azrondelle (a swallow), which is the arms of the town, but this is a
mere rebus. Alexander's horse gave his name toa city in India.’—Vol. i. p. 196. It is
certainly a remarkable circumstance that from Camden downwards not one of
these antiquarians should have referred to Sir Thomas Elyot as the original writer,
who it is evident, from the numerous editions of ‘The Governour,’ must have done
more than anyone else to give currency to the legend. It is still more surprising
that not one of the modern writers, Dallaway, Tierney, Lower, &c., who have
made the antiquities of Arundel their special study, has condescended to refer to
this passage in the text, though it would have been interesting, if for no other
reason, as showing that, in the opinion of a man of such extensive learning as Sir
Thomas Elyot, the tradition, commonly received in his day, was entitled to a higher
degree of respect than should be accorded to stories, which were not vouched (to
use his own words) ‘ by any approved author.’ It may be mentioned as a curious
coincidence that while the armorial bearings of the town of Arundel display, as
has been already stated, a swallow, one of the heraldic supporters of the Dukes of
Norfolk is ‘the white horse of Arundel.’ In Dallaway’s History of Sussex this
coat of arms is depicted, but unaccompanied by any reference to the legend. His
Grace the Duke of Norfolk, to whom the editor applied for information on the
subject, states in a letter dated the 191} January, 1876, that ‘the sword said to
have belonged to Bevis is now hanging in the gallery here. It is nearly eight feet
long, it is two-edged, and intended to be used with both hands. The tradition is
that when Bevis was dying he threw his sword from the battlements of the tower,
saying that he wished to be buried where it fell. A large grave-shaped mound in

186 THE GOVERNOUR.

nat fully consolidate.*. There is also a ryght good exercise
which is also expedient to lerne, whiche is named the vauntynge
ofa horse: that is to lepe on him at euery side without stiroppe
or other helpe, specially whiles the horse is goynge. And
beinge therin experte, than armed at all poyntes to assay the
same; the commoditie wherof is so manifest that I nede no
further to declare it.®

CHAPTER XVIII.
The aunctent huntyng of Greekes and Romanes.

BUT nowe wyllI procede to write of exercises whiche be nat
utterly reproued of noble auctours, ifthey be used with opor-
tunite and in measure, I meane huntyng, hauking, and daun-
syng. In huntynge may be an imitacion of batayle, if it be
suche as was used amonge them of Persia, wherof Xenophon,
the noble and moste eloquent philosopher, maketh a dilectable
mention in his booke called the doctrine of Cirus: and also
maketh another speciall boke, contayning the hole discipline
of the auncient huntynge of the Grekes: and in that fourme
beyng used, it is a laudable exercise, of the whiche I wyll nowe
somwhat write.

a valley in the downs now enclosed in the park is said to be his grave on the spot

where the sword fell.’ Thus, however little credit we may feel disposed to attach.

to the story, there remains an indisputable witness of fact. For the gigantic sword
still preserved in the castle must at some period or other have belonged to a real
man capable of wielding it. :

* Galen says children should be taught to ride at seven yearsold. ‘Septennes
vero etiam valentiora exercitia tolerant, ita ut equitare jam assuescant.’—De San.
tuend. lib. i. fo. 9.

» Xenophon recommends this practice in his treatise called Hifparchicus. Τῶν
γε μὴν ἵππων ὑπαρχόντων οἵων δεῖ τοὺς ἱππέας αὖ ἀσκητέον, πρῶτον μὲν ὅπως ἐπὶ τοὺς
ἵππους ἀναπηδᾶν δύνωνται" πολλοῖς γὰρ ἤδη ἣ σωτηρία παρὰ τοῦτο eyévero.—Cap. i.
§ 5. Sir Thomas Wilson, in speaking of the education of a nobleman, says:
‘ Againe I maie commende hym for plaiyng at weapons, for runnyng uppon a
great horse, for chargyng his staffe at the Tilt, for vawting, for playing upon
instrumentes, yea, and for paintyng, or drawyng of a Plat, as in olde tyme noble
Princes muche delited therein. —Arte of Rhetorique, p. 13.

i iad i ee, “Ni.

PP ~~.

:
᾿
'
[
j

THE GOVERNOUR. 187

Cirus and other auncient kynges of Persia (as Xenophon
writeth)* used this maner in all their huntyng. 5, ,
First, where as it semeth, there was in the realme of tynge of
Persia but one citie, whiche as I suppose, was called 4°”!
Persepolis, there were the children of the Persians, from their
infancie unto the age of seuentene yeres, brought up το no
in the lernyng of iustice and temperance, and also pedia Cyri
to obserue continence in meate and drinke: in so “*
moche that, whyder so euer they went, they toke with them for
their sustenaunce but onely breed and herbes, called Kersis,
in latine Wasturtium, and for their drinke, a disshe to take
water out of the ryuers as they passed. Also they lerned
to shote and to caste the darte or iauelyn. Whan they
came to the age of*xvii yeres, they were lodged in the pa-
laises that were there ordayned for the kynge and his nobles,
whiche was as well for the sauegarde of the citie, as for the
example of temperance that they dayly had at their eyes
gyuen to them by the nobles, whiche also mought be called
Peeres, by the signification of the greeke worde, wherin they
were called, Omotimz. More ouer they were accustomed to
ryse alway in the first spring of the day, and paciently to sus-
tayne alwaye bothe colde and heate. And the kyng dyd se them
exercised in goynge and also in rennyng. And whan he

® Διδάσκουσι δὲ τοὺς παῖδας καὶ σωφροσύνην " μέγα δὲ συμβάλλεται εἰς τὸ μανθά-
νειν σωφρονεῖν αὐτοὺς ὅτι καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους ὁρῶσιν ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν σωφρόνως
διάγοντας. Διδάσκουσι δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ πείθεσθαι τοῖς ἄρχουσι" μέγα δὲ καὶ εἰς τοῦτο
συμβάλλεται ὅτι ὁρῶσι τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους πειθομένους τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἰσ�